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EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2022 with funding from 
Princeton Theological Seminary Library 


https://archive.org/details/egyptianmummiesOOsmit 





pasion ite 


III IE 





AIC MUMMY IN CARTONNAGE CASING 


PTOLEM 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


BY 


G. ELLIOT SMITH 


AND 


WARREN R. DAWSON 


WITH WOODCUTS BY 
A. HORACE GERRARD anp K, LEIGH-PEMBERTON 
AND OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS 





Lincoln Wace Veagh 
THE DIAL PRESS INCORPORATED 
New York 


MCMXXIV 


(All rights reserved) 


Printed in Great Britain 
UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED, LONDON AND WOKING 


subsistency with a transmigration of their souls, a 
good way to continue their memories. 

“ Egyptian ingenuity was more unsatisfied, continuing 
their bodies in sweet consistencies to attend the return of their 
souls. 

** But all was vanity, feeding the wind, and folly. 

“The Egyptian mummies, which Cambyses or time hath 
spared, avarice now consumeth. 

** Mummy is become merchandise, Mizraim cures wounds, 
and Pharaoh is sold for Balsams.”—(Sir Thomas Browne, 
1658.) 


In his book with the formidable title ‘‘NEKPOKHAEIA, or, 
the Art of Embalming; wherein is shewn the Right of Burial, 
the Funeral Ceremonies and the several ways of Preserving 
Dead Bodies in most Nations of the World, with an Account 
of the particular Opinions, Experiments and Inventions of 
Modern Physicians, Surgeons, Chymists and Anatomists, also 
some new Matter proposed concerning a better method 
of Embalming than hath hitherto been discovered, and a 
Pharmacopoeia Galeno-Chymica Anatomia sicca sive incru- 
enta, etc.,’’ Thomas Greenhill in 1705 discussed the possible 
ways in which embalming may have originated :— 


= { GREAT part of antiquity contented their hopes of 


*““(1) Necessity, the mother of Invention may have driven 
men to render their dead innocuous to themselves ; 

**(2) Unexpected Results of Experiments, as when you 
aim and try to find out one thing and accidentally light on 
another ; and 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


‘“* (8) Observation of the instincts of living animals: 
for example, seeing flies and other insects enclosed in amber 
may have suggested the idea. 

‘** But since these things appear rather fabulous and the 
pleasant flights of acute wits and inquisitive naturalists than 
solid truths, we must have recourse to some other course”? ; 


and expressed the opinion that— 


““ The sands of Egypt being hot, from the reflection of the 
scorching sun, are capable of preserving bodies without either 
salination or embalming, and that only by exhaling and drying 
up the humidities and adventitious moisture, insomuch that 
it has occasioned no small contests among some authors, which 
of the two 1s the truer mummy, that dried in the sands or that 
which is embalmed with balsams and aromatics.” 

** The continuance and duration of their embalmings are in 
some measure due to the clearness and dryness of the air.” 


PREFACE 


than a mummy, and yet, strange as it may seem, 

very little has been done to acquire an accurate 
and reliable knowledge of the technical processes and 
significance of mummy-making. If the reader take up any 
general text-book on Egypt at the present day, he will 
usually find a relatively short space devoted to mummies. 
Moreover, the account, such as it is, is generally compounded 
chiefly of extracts from classical writers and of a series of 
generalisations, many of them quite wrong, which have 
appeared in book after book in the last fifty years. In 
1834, Thomas Pettigrew, a London surgeon, published his 
History of Egyptian Mummies, which, considering the 
archeological data then at his disposal, is a monument of 
exact observation. Since that time, however, so far as 
we are aware, no monograph has appeared based upon the 
examination of actual mummies and dealing as a whole 
with the development and significance of Egyptian embalm- 
ing. In recent years large numbers of mummies of various 
periods have been examined (and twice as many more 
allowed to perish without record), and we now have suffi- 
cient data to enable us to trace the origin and development 
of this singular practice over a period of at least three 
thousand years. 

We have aimed merely at tracing in outline the technical 
processes employed by the embalmer, and at briefly des- 
cribing the funeral ceremonies and other such archeological 

7 


[oes is nothing more characteristically Egyptian 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


matters directly relating to mummies, but these subjects 
demand a full treatment which would be out of place in 
this book. We have touched but lightly on the motives 
that prompted the custom and of the far-reaching effects 
it has had in shaping the development of human thought, 
not only in Egypt, but throughout the world. We have 
indicated the ancient literature relating to embalming from 
Egyptian and Greek texts, but as these cannot be intelli- 
gibly translated without a philological commentary, we have 
attempted to convey their meaning rather than their exact 
words. The geographical distribution of mummification and 
the story of its spread throughout the world we have not 
touched upon at all, as the amount of evidence now avail- 
able for this aspect of the subject would, if set out, have 
doubled the bulk of this book. These wider questions of 
the origin and spread of mummification have been dealt 
with at considerable length elsewhere.} 

Mummification had a great influence on the development 
of the science of anatomy, and in fact of medicine in general, 
and Egyptian mummies themselves have furnished us with 
so many pathological conditions of the greatest interest in 
the history of medicine, that a chapter has been devoted 
to the subject. 

For more technical descriptions and for fuller information 
on the various subjects indicated or discussed, the reader 
is referred to the footnotes, in which ample bibliographical 
references will be found. 

This book is to be regarded not as a complete treatise 
so much as a sketch to suggest the far-reaching importance 
of the study of mummification and to indicate the sort of 


1 G. Elliot Smith : The Migrations of Early Culture (1915) and The Evolution 
of the Dragon (1919) ; W. J. Perry : Children of the Sun (1923), Origin of Magic 
and Religion (1923) and The Growth of Civilization (1924). 


8 


PREFACE 


information that is required to complete the story. It is 
hoped that it may have some influence in stimulating 
archeologists to pay more serious attention to the investi- 
gation of the subject. 

We wish to thank Professor Capart, Director of the 
Musées Royaux of Brussels, for the photographs from which ° 
Figs. 4, 5 and 44 have been reproduced, and Mr. Fred Hall 
for valuable help in preparing the manuscript. 

For the beautiful water-colour sketch from which the 
Frontispiece has been prepared, we are indebted to Mrs. 
Cecil Firth. 

G. E. S. 

LONDON, W.R.D. 

March, 1924, 





CONTENTS 


PREFACE . . . . ° ° . . : ° 5 ° 


CHAPTER 


I. 


II. 


VIII. 


I. 


II, 


INTRODUCTION , : ° . . . . ° ° ° . 
THE DEATH AND BURIAL OF AN EGYPTIAN . : . . 
EGYPTIAN TEXTS RELATING TO EMBALMING . . ° ° 
EMBALMING ACCORDING TO HERODOTUS AND LATER AUTHORS 
MUMMIFICATION IN THE OLD AND MIDDLE EMPIRES . . . 
MUMMIFICATION IN THE XVIIITH TO XXTH DYNASTIES . 

MUMMIFICATION IN THE XXIST DYNASTY . ° . . 

MUMMIFICATION FROM THE XXIIND DYNASTY TO THE DECLINE 
THE ACCESSORIES OF THE MUMMY ° ° ° . . . 
MUMMIFICATION IN RELATION TO MEDICINE AND PATHOLOGY 


CONCLUSION . . . . ° . . . . . . 


APPENDIX 


THE TOMB OF TUTANKHAMEN AND THE ROBBERIES AT THE 
ROYAL TOMBS . . . . . ° . . . . 


LIST OF THE SOVEREIGNS FROM SEKNENRE OF THE XVIITH 
DYNASTY TO RAMESSES XI OF THE XXTH DYNASTY, INDI- 
CATING THOSE WHOSE MUMMIES OR TOMBS ARE KNOWN . 


INDEX ° . . ° . . . : ° . . . 


PAGE 


72 


110 
121 
133 
154 
163 


171 


184 


187 





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ILLUSTRATIONS 


Ptolemaic Mummy in Cartonnage Casing Frontispiece 


Facina Pag 


1.—The earliest Body, as yet known, exhibiting an attempt at 
Mummification (IInd Dynasty). [From Mr. J. E. Quibell’s 
photograph of the Body in situ in the broken Coffin.] 


2.—Predynastic Bodies with a large Cake of Resin in situ in the Grave 


8.—Head of a Mummy, probably of the Vth Dynasty, from Meidim, 
now in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, London 


4.—Egyptian Funeral Procession; from the Theban Tomb of 
Haremhab (XVIIIth Dynasty) . 


5.—The Stela No. C 15 of the Louvre. [Photograph by Professor 
J. Capart, reproduced by permission of the Authorities of 
the Louvre Museum.]. . : , 


6.—An XIth Dynasty nome from Deir-el- Bahari ths Princess 
Henhenit . 


7.—Head of the eae pes of the Pharaoh iAanmatets I exvitith 


Dynasty) Ree noe fs ‘ 
8.—Head of the Lady Ray was XVIIIth SSN 


9.—Head of the Lady Ray (Profile) . ° - 


- 10.—Head of the Mummy of the Pharaoh AMER OARIE) III (XVIIth 


Dynasty) 


. 11.—Head of an Unknown Man (XVIIIth Dynasty): 3 : ; 
. 12.—Mummy of the Elder Woman found in the Tomb of ree 


II (XVIIIth Dynasty) . . . : y 


. 13.—Mummy of the Elder Woman found in the Tomb ‘of Amenophis 


II (Profile) . 


. 14.—Mummy of the Younger Woman found’ in the Tomb of Avena 


phis II, showing the damage done by Plunderers to the Face 
and Chest (XVIIIth Dynasty) . pelt eae 


- 15.—Mummy of the Younger Woman found in the Tomb of AE 


pres: Tid Peohite ie sg es 


- 16.—Mummy of the Young Prince found in the Tomb of ecnpnis 


II, showing the ‘‘ Horus-lock.’”? The large hole in the Chest 
is the work of Ancient Plunderers (XVIIIth Dynasty) 


17.—Head of the Mummy of the Pharaoh Tuthmosis IV ee 
Dynasty) wa hae 0 a 
18.—Head of the Mummy of yuan (XVIIIth Dries EL 


13 


32 
32 


82 


32 


40 


40 


40 
40 
48 


48 
48 


48 


48 


56 


56 


56 


56 
64 


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Fig. 
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EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


FACING Pach 


19.—Mummy of Thuiu, wife of Yuaa (XVIIIth Dynasty) .. 
20.—Head of the Mummy of Thuiu (XVIIIth Dynasty) . 
21.—Head of the Pharaoh Sety I (XIXth Dynasty). 
22.—Head of the Pharaoh Ramesses II (XIXth Dynasty) 
23.—Mummy of the Pharaoh Meneptah (XIXth Dynasty) 
24.—Profile of the Mummy of Meneptah (XIXth Dynasty) 
25.—Head of the Pharaoh Sety II, encrusted with the Resinous 
Paste used by the Embalmers (XIXth Dynasty) 
26.—Mummy of an Unknown Woman, probably Queen Tausret 
(XTXth Dynasty) . ; : : ; , : , 
27.—Mummy of the Pharaoh Ramesses III (XXth Dynasty) 
28.—Head of the Mummy of the Pharaoh Ramesses V, showing the 
Eruption of the Skin, probably Small-pox (XXth Dynasty) 
29.—Head of the Mummy of the Pharaoh Ramesses VI, broken in 
pieces by the Ancient Plunderers (XXth Dynasty) . . 
30.—Mummy of Queen Nozme (XXIst Dynasty) ° 
31.—Diagrams showing the process of ‘‘ Packing”? in vogue in the 
XXIst Dynasty . ‘ : ; a es - Ry PY se : 
82.—Arm of a Mummy of the XXIst Dynasty showing the Packing 
Material. (The Outer Skin has been removed.) . 4 ; 
33.—Head of the Mummy of Queen Henttaui (XXIst Dynasty), 
showing the Wig and Artificial ‘‘ Packing ” of the Face 
34.—Mummy of Princess Nesikhons (XXIst Dynasty), showing the 
Protective Disks over the Eyes > : ; . : 
85.—Mummy of Princess Nesitanebasher (XXIst Dynasty), showing 
artificial Eyes and ‘‘ Packing’ of the Face and Neck 
86.—Embalming-wound of a XXIst Dynasty Mummy sewn up with 
SURES iris Faciegape et R ili aioe A tae ak fee ac 
387.—Mummy of an Old Woman of the XXIst Dynasty, showing the 
Patches of Gazelle Skin fixed by the Embalmers to cover 
Bed-sores. : : : ; : . ‘ . ‘ < . 
88.—Mummy of a Priest of Amen (XXIst Dynasty), with the Chest- 
wall removed to show the Heart and Aorta left in situ 
39.—Body-cavity of a Mummy (XXIst Dynasty), showing the Four 
Parcels of Viscera with Wax Figures of their Protective Genii 
40.—Head of a Ptolemaic Mummy from Nubia . yt 
41.—Head of a Ptolemaic Mummy accidentally severed from the Body 
and refixed on a Stick and tied with Bandages . . 
42.—Mass of Resin from the Thorax of the Mummy of a Young 
Woman with insects embedded in it (Ptolemaic Period) 
43.—Arm of an Early Christian Body with a Cross tied to it. 
44.—Wooden Coffin of the Middle Empire, showing the Mystic Eyes 


EXDith Dynasty) 4 ae ee aye ee ee, eh 
45.—Coffin and Mummy of the Pharaoh Amenophis I (XVIIIth 
Dynasty) ‘ ‘ : : ‘ : : ; : : 


14 


64 


104 
104 


104 


104 
112 


112 


112 


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ILLUSTRATIONS 


FACING PAGE 


46.—‘ Civil-dress *” Coffin in the Berlin Museum (XXth Dynasty) 

47.—A Rishi Coffin discovered at Thebes by the Cpe eet 
Museum Expedition of New York : 

48.—Ptolemaic Mummy in Cartonnage Casing 

49.—A Set of Canopic Jars 

50.—Mummy of the XXIst Dynasty, etl the Visors wrapped i in 
Linen Parcels and replaced in the Body , 

51.—Liver from a XXIst a cad oF Tate with Human- Headed 
Wax Figure 

52.—Lung from a XXIst Dynasty Mummy with Ape ere Wax 
Figure 

58.—Stomach from a XXIst Dynasty Muramy with Tana: headed 
Wax Figure 

54.—Small Intestines of a XXIst Dynasty Mummy with atone 
headed Wax Figure 

55.—Mummy of a Priest of Amen of the XXIst Dynasty ahawine 
Amulets tied round the Neck : ; 

56.—Arm from a Mummy showing Amulets tied on with Serine. 

57.—Arm and part of the Body of a Mummy, ition Amulets and 
Plate covering the Embalming-wound : 

58.—Mummy of a Priestess (XX Ist Dynasty), showing the Padontilee 
on the Arm and the Embalming-plate : Ree: 

59.—Arm of a Mummy showing Bead-bracelet . : ; 

60.—Gall-stones in the Liver of a Mummy of the XXIst aan 

61.—Mummy of a Priestess of Amen (XXIst Dynasty), from which 
the Gall-stones shown in Fig. 60 were taken 

62.—Mummy of a Priest of Amen heerteses attire ds afflicted with 
Pott’s Disease ‘ . 

63.—Vertebra affected with aberaulas Caries core a Moray of the 
Middle Kingdom 

64.—Osteo-Sarcoma of the Thigh- a a (Vth Dey ‘ 

65.—Talipes, or ‘‘ Club-foot ” of the Pharaoh Siptah (XIXth Dynasty) 

66.—Hands of a Mummy of a Coptic Christian afflicted with a Mi 
(Sixth Century a.D., Nubia) , 

67.—Feet of the same Mummy - thre 

68.—Predynastic Skull, showing the  reeiuion of the Mastoid 
Process by Disease . 

69.—Broken Fore-arm of a Vth Th nuaty Maries set in Splints . 

70.—Mummy of Amenophis III (XVIIIth on eid discovered in the 
Coffin of Ramesses III ee es abe? 

71.—Head of a Female pure showing the deine hair 


15 


112 


120 
120 
120 


120 


120 


120 


128 


128 


128 
128 


128 


136 
136 
136 


136 


144 


144, 
144 
144 


152 
152 


152 
152 


160 
160 





EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


CHAPTER I 
INTRODUCTION 


fication is surely the most curious and distinctive, 

Although embalming has been practised in other 
countries, in some cases for many centuries, the word 
“mummy ”’ will always connote Egypt and an Egyptian 
invention,! in spite of the fact that in the land where it 
originated mummification is now unknown, having been 
finally abandoned more than twelve centuries ago. Con- 
sidering the great interest that is commonly aroused by 
this bizarre method for disposal of the dead, there is a 
curious lack of reference to its origin and development in 
the literature that has come down to us from ancient times. 
Most of our knowledge of the inspiration and technique of 
the embalmer’s art has been derived from the application 
in recent times of modern scientific methods of examination 
to mummies found during Egyptian excavations. But a 
few writers of the ancient world were interested to observe 
the practice of embalming, and have left to posterity records 
which, although not always exactly reconcilable, are of 
great value in providing a large measure of contemporary 


(): all the customs of the Ancient Egyptians mummi- 


1 See G. Elliot Smith’s The Migrations of Early Culture, in which the 
geographical distribution of mummification is dealt with at length. 


17 C 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


support for the conclusions to which modern investigators 
have been led. 

The most instructive of these writers are Herodotus 
and Diodorus Siculus.t In his Euterpe Herodotus relates 
the details of three methods, the first of which could be 
afforded only by the wealthy, the second being of a more 
moderate expense, and the third for people of *“* yet meaner 
circumstances.”’ Written about four centuries later, that is 
circa 808B.c., the account of Diodorus gives the relative 
cost of these preparations: ‘‘ In the first, they say, there 
is spent a talent of silver; in the second twenty mine; 
but in the last there is very little expense.” ? It also 
provides additional details, not only of the practice of 
mummification, but also of other funerary rites of the 
Egyptians, including those by which the dead man was 
judged, and taken on a boat across a lake, or the Nile, 
an act emblematical of his voyage to the other-world.® 
Diodorus, moreover, emphasises the importance attached 
by the Egyptians to the need for the disposal of the dead 
in accordance with the custom of the time. The strength of 
their feelings on this subject was due to the religious beliefs 
bound up with the origins of embalming, and was the 
cause of the devotion with which the practitioners of the 
art pursued their experiments over a period of more than 
three thousand years, in the unceasing effort to attain 
perfection. Before turning to discuss the question of the 
origin of mummification, we may notice the names of the 
few other writers of ancient, medizval and early modern 
times who recorded their impressions of that peculiar 
process. Both Pettigrew, the author of the first adequate 


1 See Chapter IV. 

4 See below Chapter IV, where this question is more fully discussed and 
some other evidence as to cost is adduced. 

3 For the burial ceremonies and their significance see below, Chapter II. 


18 


INTRODUCTION 


discussion of this subject in England (History of Egyptian 
Mummies, London, 1834), and Dr. Louis Reutter (L’Embau- 
mement, Paris, 1912), have been assiduous in collecting such 
references, but no other accounts that they have found can 
vie with those of Herodotus and Diodorus for interest and 
fulness of information. Homer speaks in one place of the 
use of nectar and ambrosia, which were injected through 
the nostrils of Patrocles for the purpose of preserving his 
body, while an account of the encasing in wax of the corpse 
of Agesilaus, in order that it might be brought to his native 
land, is given by Emilius Probus, Cornelius Nepos, and 
Plutarch. According to later writers, also, the body of 
Alexander the Great was embalmed in honey and conveyed 
by Ptolemy in a golden coffin to Memphis, where it was 
exhibited to the wondering gaze of the populace. 

The Greek physician Dioscorides discusses the virtues of 
a substance called in the Latin mumia,? a black bituminous 
matter found oozing from the earth in certain places, and 
down to comparatively recent times the word ‘‘mummy ” 
has been used to denote such material. This “ mummy ” 
was regarded by the Persians as a panacea for physical 
ailments, and one of their writers of the tenth century A.D. 
has left a description of the complicated arrangements made 
for the safeguarding of the mountain from which this precious 
exudation was derived, and of the ceremony attaching to 
its annual collection on behalf of the Shah. A similar 
description of mummy was made by Abd’ al-Latif, an Arab 
writer of the twelfth century, who was, however, also well 
acquainted with mummy in the modern sense of that word.? 


1 In addition to the authorities collected by Pettigrew and others, reference 
may be made to a curious little treatise entitled Tractatus de Balsamatione 
Cadaverum, by Joseph Lanzoni, published at Geneva in 1696. 

2 De Materia Medica, Book I, chap. 100. 

3 Abd’ al-Latif, ed. de Sacy, p. 200. 


19 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


This extended use of the term, which was customary until 
well on in the nineteenth century, was due to the probability 
that from late Ptolemaic times onwards bituminous materials 
were largely used in the process of embalming, and the 
belief became widely prevalent that the wonderful cures 
originally attributed to the exudation of which we have 
spoken could also be obtained by the use of fragments of 
human bodies which had been subjected to this treatment. 
Most of the references to mummy in early modern times 
are devoted, therefore, to a discussion of its healing virtues. 
The earliest use of mummy as a drug is supposed to have 
been made by a Jewish physician of Alexandria about 
A.D. 1200. It soon became widespread. Pettigrew gives a 
number of quotations concerning the merits of mummy 
for medicinal purposes from writers of the seventeenth and 
eighteenth centuries, which show that it was well known 
all over Western Europe. Lord Bacon and Boyle acknow- 
ledge its merits, which were also enshrined in various 
pharmacopceias of the time, but other writers, of whom 
perhaps the most famous is Ambroise Paré (Workes, London, 
1634), condemned the use of this “ wicked kind of drugge”’ 
as being completely inefficacious. 

According to Guyon, the disappearance of this medica- 
ment was due not to these criticisms, but to the fears enter- 
tained by the Jewish merchants of the commodity when it 
was discovered that they were accustomed to sell any bodies 
of which they could get possession, after treating them in 
such a way as to simulate the real Egyptian mummy.1 

Whatever the real cause, its use ceased, and with it the 
medical writings that had accompanied its spread. The 


1 For a valuable contribution to the study of mummy in medicine see the 
paper Mumie als Heilmitiel, by Wiedemann, in the Zeitschrift . . . fiir rhinische 
und westfdlische Volkskunde, 1906, pp. 1-38. 


20 


INTRODUCTION 


next reappearance of the mummy in literature occurs with 
the beginnings of modern Egyptology, and especially with 
the publication of Pettigrew’s remarkable work. 

It is a matter for much regret that the work of excavat- 
ing and restoring the old Egyptian sites should have been 
conducted for the most part along narrowly specialised lines. 
The absence of adequate co-operation between students 
of particular subjects has led to the loss of much material 
that would have been invaluable as definite evidence of 
the ideas and customs of the Ancient Egyptians. Numer- 
ous examples could be cited in these pages of such loss of 
material, already far too scanty for our needs in recon- 
structing the history of Egyptian civilisation, but the 
extremely important discovery at the Temple of Deir-el- 
Bahari of an embalmer’s workshop, which was found during 
the clearing of the great temple, buried for centuries beneath 
the sands, is perhaps the most regrettable instance. The 
primary interest of the excavators was Egyptian architec- 
ture, and all the information vouchsafed by them respecting 
the equipment of the workshop is contained in the following 
passage of their report :— 


When the Northern Colonnade was cleared, we found that brick walls 
had often been built between the columns, forming small cells or chambers. 
From the remains found in them, consisting of broken beads, fragments 
of papyri, and pots containing nitre, we gathered that these chambers 
were occupied by embalmers who dwelt also on the slope outside the 
temple. There we found, in the second year of our excavations, very 
clear indications of the presence of such craftsmen. Just above the wall 
of the Colonnade were several large jars, some of which were filled with 
chopped straw used for stuffing the mummies, while others contained 
numbers of little bags of nitre or some salt used in mummification. Among 
the jars was a very fine coffin, well painted, with the face dark brown. 
The inscriptions showed that it had been made for a priest of Mentu 
of the XXIInd Dynasty called Namenkhetamon, who was of high birth, 
his great-grandfather being King Osorkon I of the XXIInd Dynasty. 
When the coffin was opened it was found that there was no body inside, 


21 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


but several hundred of little bags full of nitre. It is to be presumed 
that the coffin was not paid for, or that the purchasers, having changed 
their minds, had left it, and the embalmers used it for storing their 
chemicals.+ 


The inadequacy of such treatment is too obvious to 
need emphasis. But the correlation of the results of research 
in different fields, rendered unnecessarily laborious by such 
indifference, has succeeded in throwing a flood of light on 
features of Egyptian culture that are of profound importance 
to the proper understanding of the history of ideas. Among 
all these features the Egyptian mummy stands as a central 
object round which gather the contributions of the ancients 
to the development of religion, art, and science. It thus 
becomes a matter of first importance to account for the 
origins of an institution which has played so great a part 
in moulding the civilisations succeeding that in which it 
flourished. 

Egyptian literature is singularly reticent upon the 
subject of embalming. What little information it affords 
is set forth in Chapter III; but it is interesting to pay 
particular attention at the outset to the earliest specific 
reference to mummification, written perhaps forty cen- 
turies ago. 

After the VIth Dynasty the power of Egypt began to 
crumble and the rule of the Pharaoh was disputed by 
various local chieftains, who also struggled among them- 
selves for the supremacy which they denied to their nominal 
ruler. The state of chaos that resulted from this anarchy 
has been graphically depicted in one of the most remarkable 
documents that have come down from antiquity. This has 
been interpreted, under the title Admonitions of an Egyptian 
Sage,* by Dr. Alan H. Gardiner. Among the afflictions that 


1 Naville: Deir el Bahari, pt. ii, p. 6. 2 Leipzig, 1909. 
22 


INTRODUCTION 


had befallen his country the scribe calls attention to the 
baneful effects of the interference with foreign intercourse, 
and specially mentions the inability to obtain from the 
Lebanons (through its seaport at Byblos) the materials for 
embalming as one of the direst afflictions produced by the 
political disturbance. 

The scanty references to embalming in the later periods 
of Egyptian history will be fully discussed in Chapter IV. 

There are reasons for the belief that the earliest attempts 
to prevent the corruption of the body by artificial devices 
were suggested by the remarkable phenomenon of the 
natural preservation of the corpses of the dead. In pre- 
dynastic times in Egypt (i.e. before the commencement of 
the Ist Dynasty, circa 3400-3100 B.c.) it was the custom 
to bury the dead, loosely wrapped in linen and skins or 
matting, in shallow graves; and the hot dry sand, which, 
in spite of these coverings, came into direct contact with 
the skin, often desiccated the body and so arrested the 
process of decomposition that under less exceptional con- 
ditions is its usual fate in the grave. The discovery of the 
fact that these bodies “‘ did not suffer corruption but had 
put on incorruption”’ was probably made known to the 
early Egyptians as the result of the depredations of jackals 
in their cemeteries, and especially such human jackals as 
the grave robber, who plied his nefarious trade even in the 
earliest known period of man’s history in the Nile Valley.? 

The realisation of the fact of this natural preservation 
undoubtedly strengthened men’s belief in the survival of 
the dead; and evidence in substantiation of this intenser 
faith is afforded by the ampler provision of food and equip- 
ment which the Egyptians began to make for the use of the 


1 The passage is translated below, p- 55. 
2 George A. Reisner, Archeological Report (Egypt Exploration Fund), 
1900-1901, pp. 23-25. 


23 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


dead. The time soon arrived when the grave itself had to 
be made more spacious to accommodate these more abundant 
supplies of sustenance for the occupant of the grave. 

But the burial of the dead in these roomier graves, in 
which the corpse was no longer in direct contact with the 
dry sand of the desert but in a chamber filled with air, 
defeated the very object that had prompted the more 
lavish equipment. For the natural preservation of the body 
occurred much less often than in earlier times when it was 
closely surrounded by the sand. But by this time the 
desirability of preventing the corruption of the body had 
become firmly fixed as a cardinal article of the faith that 
preservation of the body was the essential factor in securing 
a continuance of existence. Hence the Egyptians began to 
experiment with the object of discovering some means of 
achieving by art what unaided nature rarely effected in the 
larger tombs. 

If this hypothesis represents a true picture of the trend 
of Egyptian thoughts and aspirations—and the available 
evidence points so definitely to these conclusions that there 
is little room for doubt as to the accuracy of this inference— 
such attempts at mummification were in all probability 
made when the Egyptians first realised the results of burial 
in larger tombs. On these grounds it may confidently be 
assumed that the first experiments were made approxim- 
ately at the commencement of the Ist Dynasty. As we have 
concrete evidence of such attempts at the time of the IInd 
Dynasty (Fig. 1), the inference as to the date of origin of 
the practice of mummification is virtually confirmed. 

Long before the attempt was made to embalm human 
bodies the Egyptians were familiar with the more obvious 
properties of the materials which they subsequently used 
as preservatives. For many centuries resins had been used 
as one of the ingredients for making cosmetics (Fig. 2) ; 

24 


INTRODUCTION 


and in some of the earliest mummies that have been spared 
for us to study (Fig. 3) this substance was liberally used. 
In the deserts fringing the habitable land in the valley, both 
in Upper and Lower Egypt, salt and soda are found in vast 
quantities, and as both of these substances were used by 
the embalmer even in the earliest times, we have positive 
evidence that their properties must have been familiar to 
the inventors of the art of embalming. 

From the time of their first attempts the embalmers kept 
before them two objects, from which their attention never 
swerved until Egypt’s might crumbled before the power of 
Islam thousands of years later. The first of these, as has 
been indicated, was to prevent decomposition of the tissues of 
the body, and the second was the preservation of the living 
form and personal identity of the individual.1. The constant 
striving after this second object is the explanation, not only 
of the exceptional trouble taken by the embalmers in treating 
the head, but also of many of the inscriptions found on the 
walls of the tombs, all of which were intended to ensure 
the identification of the departed with Osiris. Just as the 
discovery of the natural preservation of the body had 
crystallised the vague aspirations of the earliest Egyptian 
into a faith in personal immortality, so did the practice of 
mummification transform this belief, so that it acquired 
the definition and intensity of a vital creed. Embalming 
thus became the essential feature of the religious and philo- 
sophical edifice that grew up around it and that has persisted 
through the ages, under varying forms, since first it seemed 
to offer men the possibility of attaining immunity from 
extinction. How vast an influence the practice of mummi- 
fication exerted upon the shaping of the nascent religious 
beliefs in the times of the earliest civilisations has recently 


* See Journal of Egyptian Archeology, vol. i, pp. 189 ff. 
25 D 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


been demonstrated in a novel way by Mr. W. J. Perry in 
his book on The Origin of Magic and Religion (p. 68). 
Contrasting the earliest beliefs of Egypt, Sumer, and 
Crete, he finds that in the two latter (where embalm- 
ing was not practised in early times) there is no trace 
of the conception of immortality such as was being 
shaped in Egypt in close correlation with the ideas sug- 
gested by the practices for rendering the body imperishable 
and everlasting. 

In the earliest phase of the embalmers’ experiments the 
bodies were wrapped in a series of linen bandages, and such 
attempts as were made to render the individual recognisable 
were carried out on the swathed mummy, with the object 
of making it also a portrait statue of the deceased. The 
difficulty of securing life-like results by these means soon 
became apparent to the Egyptians, who therefore resorted 
to other methods of preserving the likeness of the departed, 
and thereby, as was believed, of securing the continuance 
of his existence. Their first device was the making, out of 
limestone or Nile mud, of a model of the dead man’s head, 
which was placed with his mummy in the burial chamber. 
This development took place during the Pyramid Age 
(IVth Dynasty), and at about the same time death masks 
were also introduced.t1_ While the latter custom never 
attained any great importance, the making of a portrait 
model of the head was developed until eventually a statue 
of the whole body was modelled. This statue was supposed 
to become the habitation of the “‘ Ka’’—one of the twin 
souls of the dead—while the other (“ Bai’’) passed to the 


1 See Junker, Journ. Eg. Arch., vol. i, p. 252 and Pl. XL, and Reisner, 
Bull. Boston Mus. of Fine Arts, vol. xiii, No. 76, April 1915, where pictures 
and descriptions of the “‘ substitute heads ” will be found. For Egyptian death 
masks see Quibell, Excavations at Saqqara 1907-8, p. 118, and Petrie, Tell el 
Amarna, Pl. I. See also Elliot Smith, Evolution of the Dragon, pp. 16 ff. 


26 


INTRODUCTION 


other world to become deified in identification with Osiris. 
The significant place in the Egyptian system occupied by 
the portrait statue is revealed by the names used for the 
sculptor—‘ he who causes to live’’—and for the act of 
making such a statue, which is the same as the Egyptian 
word meaning “to give birth,’’1 the idea being that the 
modelling of a life-like portrait was in fact the creation of a 
living image, a perpetuation of the life of the deceased, in 
other words a rebirth or renewal of life. But it is worthy 
of note that this development never deterred the embalmers 
from their efforts to preserve in the mummy itself the actual 
lineaments of the dead. Many centuries later they satisfied 
themselves of their ability to achieve this aim, but during 
the intervening period the statue contributed much to the 
consolidation of their ritual and beliefs. 

Some of its outstanding influences should be noticed, 
because of their reverberations throughout the history of 
religion. With the invention of the statue proper arose the 
custom of housing it in a chamber on the surface of the 
earth as an efficient animate representative of the body it 
duplicated, which lay at rest, safely hidden away in a sub- 
terranean vault. To the statue in its own apartment were 
made the periodical offerings of food, incense and libations, 
and the animating ceremonies that were thought to be 
necessary for the continuance of the existence of the dead 
man. The offerings of incense and libations were of par- 
ticular importance, inasmuch as they were intended to 
restore to the corpse those vital odours and moisture the 
absence of which was the most conspicuous difference 
between the mummy and the living person.2 Ignorant as 
they were of the physiological aspects of life and death, it 


1 See Capart, Egyptian Art, London, 1923, p. 173. 
2 See below, Chapter II, where this subject is fully discussed (pp. 85-37). 


27 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


seemed to them the obvious course to pursue, to give back 
to the body of the dead such attributes of life as were not 
present in the corpse. The absence of bodily odour and of 
moisture they sought to overcome by the use of incense 
and the pouring out of libations before the mummy or the 
statue. Similarly, the mouth was opened to restore to it 
the breath of life, and the reanimation of the dead was 
attempted by the performance of dramatic action in the 
tomb. When these ceremonies had been executed it was 
supposed that the dead monarch continued his existence, 
and that as, during his reign, he had been the guardian of 
the realm, so would his reincarnation continue to protect 
and guide his successors in the task of government. As 
already suggested, these rites were periodically repeated in 
the case of every individual king. At first the reigning king 
would be responsible for the maintenance in due season of 
the celebrations on which depended the immortality of his 
ancestors. In course of time the combined demands of 
religion and of government inevitably became so onerous 
as to necessitate separation, and when this was realised the 
way was clear for the emergence, for the first time, of a 
professional priesthood. This differentiation of function 
produced further reaction upon the religious structure. 
The offering of food, incense, and libations was originally 
made in the precincts of the tomb itself for the purpose of 
providing “‘ life’’ to the departed. But with the growing 
elaboration of the tombs and the growth of a priestly caste, 
over a long period of time, this original intention was over- 
shadowed by a new conception of the rites as an act of 
worship of the deified dead. When this new idea had 
taken root in the minds of men the previously essential 
identity of the place of worship with the tomb was forgotten. 
Hence the practice arose of conducting religious ceremonies 
in a temple that might be far removed from the spot in 
28 


INTRODUCTION 


which the bodies that prompted such ritual acts lay en- 
shrined. Such was the origin of places of worship, not 
merely of ancient but also of modern times. 

To the same course of development may also be ascribed 
the beginning of the practice of setting up “ graven images ”’ 
as deities. The Kings of Egypt, for whose sole benefit 
mummification was originally devised, were regarded (after 
the IVth Dynasty) as beings of divine descent—Sons of 
the Sun. The portrait statues set up to each of them as 
the habitation of the ‘“‘Ka’’ was thus itself an embodiment of 
godhead, and the separation of temple and tomb made it easy 
for the laymen at least to overlook its representative char- 
acter, and to come to consider it as a divinity which was 
in itself a fit object of worship. 

All these are indications of the way in which the long 
process of the consolidation of Egyptian culture affected 
the subsequent development of civilisation. Similar influ- 
ences were brought to bear on the more material elements 
of culture. Two of the arts which derived their first in- 
spiration from the. practice of mummification have already 
been indicated. Elaboration of the tombs was the main- 
spring of architectural progress under the Pharaohs, which 
was characterised by the use of stone and the development 
of the technique of masonry, while the making of portrait 
statues as a means of securing immortality provided the 
first powerful incentive to the life-like reproduction of the 
human form in statuary. Similarly the art of fine woodwork 
was developed from the making of coffins, the use of which 
was evolved during the series of changes and custom which 
ultimately brought about the substitution of entombment 
for inhumation. In his recent address to the British Associ- 
ation at Liverpool, Professor Percy E. Newberry criticised 
the claim that the Egyptians invented the crafts of the 
carpenter and the shipbuilder on the ground that suitable 

29 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


timber was lacking in Egypt. But the evidence in demon- 
stration of the fact that they did really devise these practices 
is clear and definite. Professor Reisner’s excavations at 
Naga ed Dér in Upper Egypt reveal every stage in the 
gradual development in the use of local wood; and it is 
patent that it was the empirical knowledge so acquired that 
prompted the Egyptians to search for and import better 
timber from abroad. This they did by means of ships built 
in imitation (not merely in shape, but also in method of 
construction) of the papyrus floats devised for use on the 
Nile. Similarly the fundamental importance of their burial 
customs to the Egyptians led to the conscious improvement 
and elaboration, in the interests of the dead, of metal work, 
jewellery, and ceramics, superb examples of which have 
been found in the royal tombs, and especially in that of 
Tutankhamen, which is unique in having been found almost 
intact. 

Such reflections as these make for a readier acknowledg- 
ment than is usually accorded of the great part played in 
history by Egypt, and of the significance of the mummy 
as the synthesising factor in our understanding of that réle. 
But there is a further consideration to be borne in mind, 
the importance of which lies in the evidence it affords that 
this ancient influence has not been confined to the world 
known to the Pharaohs, but has been extended and expanded 
until there is hardly a spot in the world as we now know it 
that does not bear in its own culture some trace of the 
earliest of civilisations. The reasons for the origin of mum- 
mification in Egypt we have seen. The close relationship 
subsisting between this practice and the use of stone, both 
for constructing tombs and temples, and for the erection of 
statues, is also easily apparent. But when we think of the 
general characteristics of Egyptian arts and beliefs, all 
closely moulded by the peculiar conditions of the valley of 

30 


INTRODUCTION 


the Nile, we find scores of other unrelated elements welded 
by the most fortuitous circumstances into a unique whole 
that could have been evolved in no other part of the world. 
The worship of the sun and the serpent, the use of the 
symbols of the winged disk, the complicated myths of the 
creation of the world and of man’s destruction by a universal 
deluge, such curious practices as tattooing, artificial deforma- 
tion of the head and * couvade,”’ these are but a few of 
the many elements that entered into the cultural complex 
of Ancient Egypt. When, therefore, in examining the 
civilisations of other races and other periods, we find all 
over the world the same concatenation of these and many 
other elements that are distinctively Egyptian in character, 
we are constrained to recognise the fact of the widespread 
diffusion of that ancient culture. And to relate this con- 
clusion more closely to the mummy which so largely con- 
ditioned its shape, it may be pointed out that the practice 
of mummification itself has had a distribution extending 
from Asia Minor southwards into the African interior, 
westwards into Europe, and eastwards, by way of India, 
Burma and Indo-China to New Guinea and the islands of 
the Pacific, whence it spread to Peru and permeated Central 
America,!_ while Egyptian literature examined by Dr. 
Blackman makes it certain that the use of incense and 
libations originated out of the practice of embalming, so 
that in every part of the world where these customs are 
observed we have indirect evidence of the influence of 
Egyptian ideas. 

Thus we see that the cultural structures of races in every 
continent of the globe have owed parts either of their 
formative inspiration, or of the elements entering into them, 


? Elliot Smith : The Migrations of Early Culture. 
31 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


to the genius of the remote past in Egypt. It is in the 
light of this realisation that we must seek understanding 
of the full significance of that genius in world affairs, and 
the importance of the study of the mummy as its most 
vital expression. 


32 





FIG. I.—THE EARLIEST BODY, AS YET KNOWN, EXHIBITING AN ATTEMPT 
AT MUMMIFICATION, lind DYNASTY 


(From Mr. Quibell’s photograph of the boby in situ in the broken coffin) 








FIG, 2.—PREDYNASTIC BODIES WITH A LARGE CAKE OF RESIN JN SITU 
IN THE GRAVE 








FIG. 3.—HEAD OF A MUMMY, PROBABLY OF THE vth DYNASTY 


(Now in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, London) 





ALSVNAG Y}ITIAX ‘€dVHNGUVH AO AWOL NVGSHL YHL WOU ! NOISSHOOUd IVYANNA NVILdADA—'b “DIT 


CE densdoadey wader alaleta wisdechareiebeb: aledeat 


coy La Lee Ee aa Eek ad 


[RAR RRR 








CHAPTER II 
THE DEATH AND BURIAL OF AN EGYPTIAN 


S the mummy was the central figure in the complex 
and elaborate ceremonies enacted at the funeral of 


an Egyptian and was the host and occupant of 
the tomb, a brief account must be given of the rites which 
were performed after the embalmers’ work was finished and 
the wrapped and coffined mummy ready for the tomb. 

It must be remembered that the whole funerary cult of 
the Egyptians was originally intended only for the King, 
and it was the result of a gradual democratisation of religious 
ideas + that it was borrowed during the old kingdom for 
nobles and for the highest officials, extending more and 
more as time went on, and percolating to other and lower 
ranks of the population, but its kingly origin was never 
forgotten and traces of it reappear again and again, as we 
shall presently see. 

By his death and embalming, and by virtue of the 
magical and religious ceremonies enacted in connexion 
therewith, the dead man became identified with Osiris, the 
dead King par excellence, and he went through, in theory 
at least, all the phases that befel the god after his fatal 
conflict with Seth. 

For the purposes of this description, we will take the 
burial of an Egyptian noble of the New Kingdom, a period 


1 This democratisation is admirably worked out by Breasted in his Develop- 
ment of Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt. 


33 E 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


when the funerary cult had reached its greatest elaboration. 
The account is therefore mainly based upon the Theban 
Tomb of Amenemhét, not only because it is a good repre- 
sentative of its class, but because it is the subject of an 
admirable memoir to which reference is continually made 
throughout this book, to which we cannot adequately 
express our indebtedness, and which is far and away the best 
exposition published on Egyptian funerary ceremonies. 
We know very little of what immediately followed the 
physical death of an Egyptian. The death-bed is a scene 
never represented as far as we are aware, but an Old Kingdom 
tomb portrays very vividly the sudden death of a noble 
who collapses on the ground in the. midst of his family 
whose grief is unmistakably depicted, whilst his wife, over- 
come by emotion, swoons into the arms of two attendants.? 
Inthe Royal Tomb at Tell-el-Amarna the death and mourning 
of a princess is depicted. From the day of death to the 
completion of the burial rites the usual period of time was 
seventy days, during which the corpse was handed over 


1 The Theban Tombs Series, vol. i. The Tomb of Amenemhét (No. 82), copied 
in line and colour by Nina de Garis Davies, with explanatory text by Alan H. 
Gardiner, D.Litt. London, 1915. 

Amongst the other Theban Tombs utilised in this chapter the following 
may be mentioned as the principal sources :— 

The Tomb of Rekhmiré (No. 100). Virey: Mém. Miss. Arch., t. v, fase. 1. 

The Tomb of Haremhab (No. 78). Bouriant: idem., fasc. 2, pp. 418-484. 

The Tomb of Neferhotpe (No. 50). Benedite: idem. fasc. 2, pp. 489-540. 

The Tomb of Antefoker (No. 60) (Middle Kingdom). Davies: The Tomb 
of Antefoker and his Wife Senet. London, 1920. 

The five tombs (Nos. 20, 21, 103, 165, 154) published by Davies in his Five 
Theban Tombs, London 1918, have also been used. : 

The Tomb of Paheri at El Kab (early XVIIIth Dynasty) is also often quoted. 
See Griffith-Tylor: The Tomb of Paheri (Egypt Expl. Fund, XIth Memoir), 
1894. 

(The numbers of the tombs refer to those in Gardiner and Weigall, Topo- 
graphical Catalogue of the Private Tombs of Thebes, London 1913.) 

2 Bissing: Denkmdler Aeg. Sculptur, Pl. 188, quoted by Gardiner, op. cit. 
p. 45, note 1. Reproduced also in Capart: Rue de Tombeauz, Pl. LXXI. 


34 


BURIAL OF AN EGYPTIAN 


to the embalmers, whose finished product was the bandaged 
mummy ready to receive the last rites from earthly minis- 
trants before its consignment to the depths of the tomb.!_ The 
embalmers’ workshop was called the House of Purification 
of the Good House, and in it a long and complicated series of 
rites was enacted during the wrapping of the mummy and 
the placing of its amulets in their places.2. The details of 
the actual process of mummification will be fully described 
in the later chapters which describe mummies of various 
periods ; ® for the present it will suffice to say that the body 
was first eviscerated, soaked in a salt-bath, and finally 
anointed and wrapped in its complex clothing of bandages.* 

Throughout all these ceremonies, and also those which 
followed, libations were poured out and incense burnt. 
The significance of incense and libations, to which reference 
was made in Chapter I, has been subjected to a careful 
study by Blackman, who in a series of illuminating memoirs 
has traced the origin and purpose of this aspect of the 
funerary ritual. Blackman has shown that these ceremonies 
imparted to the body the moisture and warmth which it 
had lost during the process of mummification, and also was 
the means by which the sun-god was reborn daily and by 
which the inert corpse of Osiris was revivified. It is in 
this latter aspect that its significance in the funerary cere- 
monies is most important. The Osirian lustrations were 


1 For the period see Chapter III and where the Ritual of Embalming is also 
discussed. 

2 For the amulets and the texts relating thereto see pp. 147-153. 

3 See Chapters V—VIII. 

4 Pictures of the wrapping and decoration of mummies are rare, but a 
good instance may be seen in Maspero, Struggle of the Nations, 2nd. ed., pp. 510 
and 511, reproduced from Rossellini. 

5 Zeitschrift fur Agyptische Sprache, t. 50, pp. 69 ff. Journal of Egyptian 
Archeology, t. v, pp. 118-124 and 148-165. Proceedings of the Society of Biblical 
Archeology, t. xl, pp. 57-66 and 86-91. Recueil de Travaux, t. 39, pp. 44-78. 
See also Elliot-Smith : Evolution of the Dragon, chap. i. 


35 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


performed with water obtained from the mythical source of 
the Nile (the Island of Bigeh), where a dismembered leg 
of the god was deposited, and the water was regarded as 
its sacred emanation. The body of Osiris had been dis- 
membered at his death and his limbs scattered throughout 
the cities of Egypt. They were afterwards collected and his 
body was made whole and embalmed and became revivified 
by the magical power of Isis and other divinities.1 Conse- 
quently the formule recited during the lustration of the 
Osirian dead often speak of the corpse as though it were 
dismembered like that of Osiris. Thus the lector-priest, 
during the washing of the dead body of Dhut-hotpe in his 
tomb at El Bersheh, recites the words: ‘‘ Unite to thee thy 
bones: what appertains to thee is complete.” 2 

In his article in the Recueil de Travauex already cited, 
which is the authority for the above statements, the author 
has collected all the known instances of the dead undergoing 
lustration in the embalmers’ workshop.? The dead man, who 
is visualised as living,* and represented as fully clothed, 
stands upon a large pan or squats over a large jar whilst 
two or more lustrators pour water over him. Blackman 
suggests with great probability that the jar or vessel beneath 
the body is to catch the moisture which drains therefrom 
after its removal from the salt-bath, which would thus have 
contained a quantity of matter exuded from the body 
(op. cit. p. 55). Whilst the life-giving lustration water 
mingled with it as it flowed into the jar the dead man 


* For a useful collection of data on the myth of Osiris we have frequently 
consulted Budge, Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection, 2 vols., London, 1911, 
although we cannot always accept his conclusions. 

* Blackman : Journ. Eg. Arch., t. v, p. 119. Newberry : El Bersheh, t.i, Pl. X. 

* Recueil de Travaux, t. 39, pp. 53-55 and Pl. III. To these must be added 
the corresponding scene in the Tomb of Amenhotpe-si-se, published in vol. iii 
of the Theban Tombs Series, Pl. XV (1924). 

* See Dawson: ‘A Rare Vignette from the Book of the Dead,” in Journ. 
Eg. Arch., vol. x, pt.i. p. 40. 


36 


BURIAL OF AN EGYPTIAN 


would be revivified with these potent emanations, which by 
his identification with Osiris became the emanations from the 
god of the potency of which the religious texts of all periods 
from the Pyramid Age to Roman times speak again and again. 

This interpretation is of special importance in view of 
the discoveries made from time to time in the Theban 
necropolis of piles of pots filled with rags and salt which 
are, as Mr. H. E. Winlock states, ‘‘ the refuse of embalmers’ 
shops.” His report of the finding of such deposits is of 
such interest that we make no apology for quoting the 
following extracts from it:} 


This year alone we ran across three such caches of the later periods, 
and two years ago we found the same sort of things left over from the 
embalming of the body of Mehenkwetre. A little chamber had been 
provided for them near the tomb because they had been in contact with 
the dead man’s body and therefore contained some of the essence of his 
being, but outside of the courtyard because all that appertained to em- 
balming was essentially impure. That chamber had been entered before 
our day, but this year we found the similar chamber of the tomb of Ipy 
just as it had been sealed up after his funeral, and some of the things in 
it were, so far as we know, unique. . . . The great noble had provided 
for the embalming of his body most liberally. Cloths, salts, aromatic 
oils, sawdust and countless pottery vessels, far beyond ordinary require- 
ments, were laid aside against the day of his death. In addition a wooden 
platform 7 ft. 1 in. long and 4 ft. 2} in. wide was prepared with four 
wooden blocks of ghastly similarity to those on the dissecting tables 
of modern medical schools. ... Then, after the embalming was com- 
pleted and Ipy’s mummy duly wrapped in its bandages, all that had 
touched it was gathered up religiously for the possession of so much as 
a hair of his head by an enemy would provide the means of bewitching 
him. Soiled rags, broken pots, left-over salts . . . were packed in sixty- 
seven large jars, which were sealed and carried up to the little chamber 
by the tomb.? 


1 “ The Egyptian Expedition MCMXXI-MCMXXII,” part ii of the Bulletin 
of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, December 1922, p. 34. 

2 We cannot agree with this interpretation, as all the facts as well as the 
Egyptian texts, seem to prove just the reverse. The emanations of the corpse, 
being assimilated to Osiris, were the essence of the god himself, which were 
therefore doubly sacred and abundantly treated as such in innumerable religious 
texts. 3 Op. cit. p. 34. 


37 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


Some of these jars still lie in the rope sling-nets in which 
they were carried. Two similar sets of jars in sling-nets 
and hung upon poles for carrying were found in the tomb 
of, and lying beside, a XVIIth Dynasty mummy at Qurneh 
_by Petrie,t which had doubtless served a similar purpose, 
and other instances might be quoted. 

Although the lustration of the body and the vessels 
used in connexion herewith is of the greatest importance 
and contains many of the foundation-stones of Egyptian 
funerary ideas, it cannot be further elaborated now. 
Enough, however, has been said to show that these rites, 
like all the others connected with burial customs, were a 
dramatic re-enaction of the embalming and burial of Osiris, 
in which the dead man played the part of the god and his 
priestly ministrants played the parts of the gods who assisted 
at the obsequies of Osiris. 

We will now turn our attention to the funeral procession 
which set out from the dead man’s house and accompanied 
him to the tomb. (Fig. 4.) 

A frequently depicted episode is the journey to Abydos 
(Fig. 4, lowest register). Like many of the other episodes, 
the scene is easy to describe but difficult to explain. The 
dead man and his wife sit under a canopy in a state barge 
towed by a boat with two rows of oarsmen. The barge 
is accompanied by others on which the priests perform 
sacrifices and rites as the journey proceeds. Whatever its 
original purpose may have been, all the evidence seems to 
point to the fact which Gardiner has brought out so well,2— 
that the journey at least in the New Kingdom, if not earlier, 
had no objective reality, but was replaced by a mere pictorial 


* Petrie: Qurneh, pp. 6 ff. and Pl. XXIV. 
* Gardiner : op. cit. p. 48. 
* Davies: Tomb of Antefoker, p. 19. 


38 


BURIAL OF AN EGYPTIAN 


representation on the tomb walls. The procession had to 
cross the Nile, or at least some of its rites were performed on 
the water, and in many tombs these aquatic incidents and 
the journey to Abydos are all placed together. The shrine, 
the coffin and the mourners are shown in light papyrus 
skiffs on the water. A curious survival of the times when 
the burial rites were exclusive to kings is the frequent 
representation of statues, usually two in number, wearing 
the Red Crown of the Pharaoh. These are generally carried 
at the head of the procession of servants bearing tomb 
furniture. They are also shown on the boats, usually 
with a sacrificial joint laid before them by an officiating 
priest.” 

The simplest representations of the funeral procession 
and ceremonies are those which illustrate the funerary 
papyri (Book of the Dead) of the XVIIIth, XTXth and XXth 
Dynasties. These show the hearse, the mourners, the 
servants bearing furniture, and the final rites before the 
mummy at the door of the tomb. The pictures in the 
tombs go into much greater detail, and display a great 
amount of variation. The order of the procession is not 
always the same but the stamp of a common tradition 
pervades all the pictures. 

Sepulchral stele sometimes give summarised versions of 
the funeral ceremonies. The stela C 15 isa very remarkable 


1 Rekhmiré, Pls. XTX and XXII; Antefoker, Pl. XXI. In the Tomb of 
Haremhab, these two figures are represented by busts, like that found in the 
Tomb of Tutankhamen, but wearing the wig head-dress instead of crowns. 
Royal crowns are frequently included amongst the burial equipment of non- 
royal persons on coffins of the Middle Kingdom, and amongst,groups of such 
objects in the tombs of the New Kingdom. For the former see Lacau: Sarco- 
phages anterieurs au Nouvel Empire, t. ii, Pl. LIV; and for the latter, Bouriant : 
Tombeau de Harmhabi, Pl. V. 

2 Rekhmiré, Pls. XIX and XX. Antefoker, Pl. XVIII. 

3 E.g. the Papyri of Any, Henufer, etc., or in a still briefer form, Naville, 
Papyrus of Iouiya, Pl. Il. 


39 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


example. (See Fig. 5, reproduced by permission of the 
authorities of the Louvre Museum.) 

The whole procession moves westward towards a figure 
of the goddess of the West, who wears her characteristic 
emblems upon her head. The mummy lies in a shrine or 
canopy upon a lion-headed bier, the whole being placed 
upon a sledge drawn by oxen and by men.! In some cases 
the outer sarcophagus is placed in the shrine with the mummy 
on its bier above it, and in other cases the sarcophagus is 
carried separately.2, Two women, impersonating Isis and 
Nephthys, precede the mummy, either on the sledge or 
on foot. The two goddesses are called the “ great kite” 
and the “‘ little kite,” and are sometimes replaced by figures 
of birds. Behind the hearse another sledge drawn by men 
follows. This bears, usually on a couch and in a canopy, 
a coffer, doubtless the chest containing the four canopic 
jars in which the separately embalmed viscera are deposited. 
In some cases the canopic box is omitted, and the four jars 
are placed under the bier in the hearse. Parties of mourning 
women with bare breasts and dishevelled hair follow the 
coffin, giving vent to their grief. Next in order comes a 
procession of servants bearing chests full of clothing,’ 
ornaments and other property for the tomb. The objects 


1 The shrine is sometimes closed and conceals the mummy (Haremhab, 
Rekhmiré), but is more often open (Amenemhét, Antefoker). The shrine also 
often stands upon a boat, which in its turn is carried on the sledge (Haremhab, 
Rekhmiré). In some cases there is neither bier nor boat, and in some scenes the 
sledge itself is lion-headed (Mentuherkhepeshef, etc.). 

2 See Griffith-Tylor : Tombof Paheri, P1.V. The coffin is carried separately 
over the river (Paheri, Antefoker), or on the shoulders of the bearers on land 
(Antefoker). 

3 On the sledge more often. On foot in Paheri. 

4 The Canopic Box was often fitted with runners and combined the box 
and sledge in one unit, e.g. Quibell : Tomb of Yuaa and Thuiu, Pls. XIV and XV. 

5’ E.g. Papyrus of Henufer. 

6 Papyrus of Ani, Pls. V and VI. 

7 In the Tomb of Haremhab the servants precede the hearse, 


40 


aN MEE 
? SE 











FIG. 5 =——1THE STELA NO. CC. 15 OF THE LOUVRE 


(Photo by Professor J. Capart, reproduced by permission of the authorities of the Louvre Museum) 








PIG. 6.—AN xXIth DYNASTY MUMMY FROM DEIR-EL-BAHARI—THE PRINCESS HENHENIT 





3 


> 
~ 


s s a y 
ef v 
AN Wr 
WN ee: 
y 


SS 
==) 





(xvuith DyNasTy) 


PHARAOH AAHMOSIS I. 


HEAD OF THE MUMMY OF THI 


FIG. 7. 








) 


NASTY 


(EARLY xXvilIth Dy 


RAY 


THE LADY 


HEAD OF 


8. 


FIG, 





BURIAL OF AN EGYPTIAN 


contained in these chests are usually depicted above them, 
and are of the same nature as those depicted upon the coffins 
of the Middle Kingdom.? 

A frequent but very obscure feature of the funeral pro- 
cession is the figure of a man wrapped in an ox-hide and 
huddled up or crouching upon a sledge drawn by four men. 
This is called the tekenu, but what its origin or function 
may be is entirely obscure.? The figure is usually completely 
covered in the hide, and appears as a pear-shaped object 
upon the sledge® (Fig. 4, first register). In some cases 
the head is uncovered,‘ and in one tomb, that of Mentuher- 
khepeshef, the tekenu plays a more obtrusive part, and is 
quite exceptional both in pose and function.° 

The long and complex series of pictures which in the 
tombs we have so frequently referred to, as well as in many 
others, deal with an entirely obscure series of rites, the 
meaning and purpose of which we can do little more than 
guess at. As so often in these pages, we can only refer to 
the admirable account of them in the T'omb of Amenemhét.® 

The procession has now arrived at the entrance of the 
tomb, and the mummy is taken from the hearse and placed 
upright upon a mound of sand facing the mourners. The 
rites now to be performed are magical in character and have 
for their object the transformation of the mummy from an 
inert corpse to a living being capable of performing all its 


1 See Lacau: Sarcophages anterieurs au Nouvel Empire, Pls. XXX-LIV. 

2 See Davies: Tomb of Antefoker, Pl]. XXIIa and p. 22 with footnote I. 
Gardiner: op. cit., pp. 50,51. Moret: Mystéres Egyptiens, pp. 42 ff. 

3 Haremhab, Paheri, Amenemhét, Neferrenpit (Brussels). 

4 Antefoker, Rekhmiré. 

5 Davies: Five Theban Tombs, pp. 9, 10, 14. 

6 Pp. 52-57, and especially 55. For the corresponding scenes in other 
tombs we may mention :— 

Paheri, Pl. V; Rekhmiré, Pls. XIX-XXVIII; Five Theban Tombs, Pls. 
II, VI-X and XXI. 


41 F 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


bodily functions in the life of the next world. These cere- 
monies were very long and complex, and are known as 
The Opening of the Mouth. In the Royal Tombs they are 
depicted at great length and comprise a long series of episodes. 
In the private tombs, however, only an abstract is usually 
given, although even this abstract may comprise a con- 
siderable number of episodes. 

In ancient times it appears that the ceremonies of 
Opening the Mouth were performed upon a statue of the 
dead man, but in the New Kingdom the mummy itself 
takes the place of the statue, except in the case of kings, 
when the statue is retained. Wooden statues of several 
of the kings of the XVIIIth and XIXth Dynasties have 
been found, the finest specimens of which are the two dis- 
covered in the Tomb of Tutankhamen, which retained their 
gold ornaments and insignia.t In the Tomb of Rekhmiré 
all the ceremonies are performed upon a statue of the dead 
man clad in a long white kilt and holding a staff, instead of 
upon his mummy. The reason for this may possibly be 
that the mummy itself was inaccessible, for this tomb 
contains no burial chamber, the body having been laid to 
rest elsewhere. 

Whether represented by his mummy or by a statue, the 
deceased stands upon a mound of sand prescribed by ritual, 
and several different priests carry out the ceremonies. These 
comprise censing and lustration, the sacrifice of an ox, and 
the touching of the mouth, jaws and eyes with magical 
instruments which restored to them their functions. A 


* Coloured pictures of the statues of Tutankhamen have been published in 
Wonders of the Past, Part I, pp. 19 and 20. ‘The statue of Sety I, which is 
depicted on the walls of his tomb undergoing the ceremonies of Opening the 
Mouth, is in the British Museum (Guide to the Egyptian Galleries [Sculpture] 
p- 158, No. 567, 1909), A similar statue of Amenophis II was found in the 
tomb of that king. 


42 


BURIAL OF AN EGYPTIAN 


frequently depicted but very obscure episode is the awaken- 
ing of the sem-priest, who lies huddled up upon a couch 
under an ox-skin in an attitude recalling that of the tekenu, 
to which we have already alluded, and with which it may 
possibly have some connexion. One of the priests imper- 
sonates Horus and is called the “* Beloved Son,” yet another 
instance of the fact that the whole of the ritual is reminiscent 
of the passion of Osiris. Other priests proceed to anoint and 
clothe the dead man and the rite terminates with a banquet, 
the prescribed menu for which is set out at length on the 
walls of the tomb. 

The whole ceremony is of very ancient origin; it is 
mentioned in the Pyramid Texts of the Vth and VIth 
Dynasties and appears in tombs of even earlier date. 

After the completion of these ceremonies the mourners 
are entertained at a sumptuous feast, and whilst they eat 
and drink they are entertained by musicians and dancers, 
who sing to the accompaniment of harps and other instru- 
ments the praises of the dead man, or songs treating of life 
and death. Of these songs the two most famous are those 
in the Tomb of Neferhotpe and of one of the Antef Kings, 
a copy of which is preserved in a papyrus in the British 
Museum.? Meanwhile the mummy has been lowered into 
the burial chamber together with all its equipment, and a 
priest wearing a mask and impersonating Anubis gives the 
finishing touches to the arrangements. Another priest, 
impersonating Thoth, is the last to leave the chamber, and 
he drags along the ground a kind of broom made of the 


1 For a full description see the great work of Schiaparelli: Jl Libro det 
Funerali, 3 vols., Turin 1882-1890. Budge: The Book of Opening the Mouth. 
2 vols., 1909. Maspero : Etudes de Mythologie, etc., vol. i, pp. 283-824, 
Gardiner: op. cit. pp. 57 ff. ; and for the scenes, see the Theban tombs already 
quoted and Lefebure : Le Tombeau de Seti I, pt. iii, Pls. II—XII, and numerous 
papyri of the New Kingdom, such as those of Any, Henufer, etc. 

2 Egyptian Hieratic Papyri, Second Series, Pls. XLV and XLVI (1923). 


43 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


hdn-plant. This act is perhaps to banish all evil spirits 
from the chamber, and to delete from the sand with which 
the floor is sprinkled all footprints, and thus ensure its 
integrity.! 

Such, in briefest outline, are the principal events at an 
Kgyptian funeral. The material is almost unlimited, and 
almost every tomb presents variations in detail. Some of 
them introduce innovations, others are archaic and show 
the ceremonies in earlier stages of development, but all bear 
the stamp of a common tradition. For full information the 
reader is referred to the various works cited in the foot- 
notes. These references by no means supply a complete 
bibliography, but aim at nothing more than a reference 
to the most accessible and reliable publications in which 
fuller details and bibliographical notes abound. 


1 This rite is called “ Bringing the Foot”? and may possibly mean ‘“ Re- 
moving the Footprint.” See the discussion of the rite by Gardiner, op. cit. 
pp. 93, 94, where numerous instances of its occurrence are quoted. 

For the arrangement of the burial chamber and the objects therein, see 
Gardiner, op. cit. pp. 110-118. 


44, 


CHAPTER III 
EGYPTIAN TEXTS RELATING TO EMBALMING 


in number. It is strange that a nation which has 

bequeathed to posterity such a large mass of docu- 
ments on every variety of subject should have so little in- 
formation to impart on the most characteristic and special- 
ised feature of its elaborate funerary cult. It is true that 
the Pyramid Teats, the Coffin Texts and the Book of the 
Dead are full of allusions to Osirian myth and to such rites 
as incense-burning and lustration, which became inextricably 
interwoven therewith, and similar allusions occur in many 
mythological and magical texts. The following are all that 
are known to us as having any direct dealings with any 
part of the ceremonies of embalming. 

1. The Ritual of Embalming.—This text has come down 
to us in two papyri: one in the Cairo Museum? (Pap. 
Boulag, No. 8), the other in the Louvre? (No. 5158). Both 
are of late period (Roman) and are contemporary; they 
are copied, if not by the same scribe, at least from the same 
original. They are written in the characteristic hieratic 
script of the period, but from the mythological and other 


Ts Egyptian texts relating to embalming are few 


1 Mariette: Les Papyrus égyptiens du Musée du Boulaq, Paris 1871, t. i. 

2 Deveria: Catalogue des Manuscrits égyptiens du Louvre, Paris 1881, 
pp. 168, 169. Maspero: Mémoire sur quelques Papyrus du Louvre, Paris 1878, 
pp. 14-104 and 2 plates. 

3 For evidence as to this see Maspero: op. cit. p. 16. 


45 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


data they contain it would seem that they are a late redaction 
of an older book, or at least embody older ideas. 

The text contained in these two manuscripts is, unfor- 
tunately, far from complete. The Cairo text consists of the 
last ten pages of a work whose first part is entirely lost, but 
we have no means of estimating how many pages are missing. 
Of these ten pages, the first is so badly damaged as to be 
useless, the second has lost the beginning of most of the 
lines, but the remaining eight are in good preservation. 
The Paris text duplicates the last two pages. 

The ritual may be divided into two headings: (i) a 
series of directions to the officiant as to acts to be performed 
by him upon the mummy; (ii) prayers and incantations 
to be recited after each of such acts. The book is essentially 
a religious one, and not a handbook on embalming for the 
use of Egyptian priests. It contains no directions relating 
to, nor indeed any mention of, the technical details of em- 
balming. It prescribes the use and application of various 
unguents, amulets and bandages to be applied to the body 
after it has been eviscerated and taken out of the salt-bath. 
Perhaps when entire it contained directions as to the anoint- 
ing and wrapping of the whole body, but what remains of 
it relates to the head (§§i, ii, vii, viii, ix and x), the back 
(§§ ii, iv and v), the hands (§§ vi and xi), and the arms, 
legs and feet (§ xii). 

We are now concerned only with the directions them- 
selves and will entirely disregard the incantations, although 
the latter constitute the greater part of the work. As far 
as we are aware, there is no complete translation extant 
other than the admirable pioneer study by Maspero,! which 
embodies a full translation and an elaborate commentary. 


* Mémoire sur quelques Papyrus du Louvre, Paris 1878. 
46 


EGYPTIAN TEXTS 


This translation must necessarily be the basis of all others, 
but a modern treatment of the text is badly needed. 

The text has been transcribed afresh and retranslated by 
one of us, and Professor Griffith was good enough to read 
through the pertinent passages of it with the translator, 
but owing to the difficulties both textual and otherwise 
with which it abounds, no consecutive translation would 
be intelligible without a bulky commentary which would 
be quite out of place in this book. We therefore decided 
merely to summarise the passages which directly concern us. 
The text abounds in mythological allusions which often 
render it extremely obscure. It must be confessed that 
there is little to be learned concerning mummification from 
the Ritual of Embalming, but it is of too great importance 
to be ignored. 


§i. Direction to the operator to anoint the mummy’s 
head with frankincense. (Pap. Boulaq, 2, 1.) 

§ii. Direction to take an unguent vase filled with 
specified ointments such as are used for the 
Opening of the Mouth. An officiant called the 
‘* Treasurer of the God ” is to anoint the whole 
body from the head to the soles of the feet, but 
omitting the head itself. (Pap. Boulag, 2, 5-6.) 


The “ Treasurer of the God” appears to correspond to 
the raptxevrns of the Greek texts.1 


§ ii. The next direction is very obscure, and appears to 
refer to another anointing, and mentions the 
** children of Horus,’’ which seem to refer to the 


1 The title, according to Blackman, is a legacy from the time when the burial 
ceremonies were performed for kings only. (See his article ‘‘ Priest, Priesthood 
(Egyptian),” § XIVd, in Hastings’ Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics.) 


47 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


separately embalmed viscera. (Pap. Boulag, 2, 
16-17.) 

§iv. Directions for the ‘children of Horus ” and for 
anointing the back with “fat” (mrh-t). (Pap. 
Boulag, 2, 18-20.) 

§v. Further directions for anointing and wrapping 
the back. Some reference is apparently made 
to filling the skull with medicaments. (Pap. 
Boulaq, 3, 13.) 

§ vi. Directions for gilding the nails and winding 
the fingers in “ linen of Sais.”"1_ (Pap. Boulag, 
3, 15.) 

§ vii. Ceremonies performed by “ Anubis, the chief of 
Mysteries,” and ‘“‘ the Treasurer of the God.” 
(Pap. Boulagq, 4, 7-8.) 


Anubis was the embalmer, par excellence, and a priest 
impersonated him. This god is seen in innumerable tomb- 
pictures and papyri in attendance upon the mummy. 


§ viii. A long section giving directions for the anointing 
and bandaging of the head, with a detailed 
specification of the bandages to be used for each 
part of the head, giving the magical names of 
each. Thus the descriptions and names of a 
long series of bandages are given for applica- 
tion to the ears, nostrils, cheeks, brow, occiput, 
mouth, chin, and neck. The application of these 
bandages is finished off by affixing a linen band 
of two fingers’ width and anointing the whole 


1 The nails of mummies were often gilded in late times. (See Pettigrew : 
Egyptian Mummies, pp. 63-4.) 

‘Linen of Sais ” is frequently mentioned in the texts, e.g. Stele of Amen- 
hotpe, 1. 12 (Miss. Arch., vol. i, pp. 26 and 52), Loret : Rec. de Travaux, vol. iv, 
p. 22; Tomb of Khaemhét (No. 57 = Miss. Arch., vol. i, p. 180), ete. 


48 


NS 


y] 


CoM, 


a4 BD. 





g.—HEAD OF THE LADY RAY (PR 


FIG. 





(ALSVNAG U}IIIAX) (ALSVNAC U}IIIAX) ‘Ill SIHAONAINV 
‘NVW NMONANQN NV AO AWNOAW FHL JO GVAaH—'II ‘Ola HOVYVHI AHL AO AWWAW AHL AO GVAH—OL ‘OIa 









we ne. --) eee 


wah ¢ 


- 





Yj 
Gf 
Ky 
YH LY y * 
y j 


Wy 
Ey Ine 
i ) ‘ | iy 


4 
L } ) 


Wi 


¥ 


) 
iy) 





MUMMY OF THE ELDER WOMAN FOUND IN THE TOMB OF AMENOPHIS Il. 
(xviuth DYNASTY) 


HiGs. LZ. 








4 
4 
4 
Pg 
*g. 
4 


14 
ey 


NY 


Wo 





BIG. I3.—MUMMY OF THE ELDER WOMAN FOUND IN THE TOMB OF AMENOPHIS II 
(PROFILE). (xvilIth DYNASTY) 


' (= ae 
. a >. , ve end pis 
A 7 ae Pa s 
| ae 


ee) Sans 2 
— 2a mtg ene eects wae 


mpaeen 





EGYPTIAN TEXTS 


with “ thick oil”? (doubtless the resinous paste 
which is so often found upon actual mummies). 
(Pap. Boulaq, 4, 9-16.) 

§ix. Directions for further anointing of the head with 
frankincense and fat, and for enwrapping certain 
spices. (Pap. Boulag, 7, 1-2.) 

§ x. Long directions for anointing and wrapping of 
the hands. An ointment consisting of ‘‘ Amu- 
flowers 1 part, Resin of Coptos 1, Natron 1.”’ 
The bandages are all identified with gods and god- 
desses, and the vignette at the top of the papyrus 
shows several deities bringing bandages to the 
mummy lying on acouch. (Pap. Boulaq, 7, 7-16.) 

§ xi. A similar passage describing bandages, with figures 
of gods, etc., traced upon them, used for the 
hands. (Pap. Boulag, 8, 16-22.) 

§ xii. Directions for the anointing and bandaging of the 
arms, feet and legs. (Pap. Boulaq, 9, 13-18 ; 
Pap. Louvre, 2, 1-7.) 


These twelve directions, alternating with long incanta- 
tions and prayers, are, as already mentioned, very elaborate 
but extremely obscure. It is difficult to believe that they 
were ever strictly carried out, but there is so little known 
as to the wrappings of actual mummies that it is unsafe to 
say whether inscribed bandages and other details of the 
ritual are verifiable or not. We know of no detailed account 
of the bandaging of late mummies, such as have been made 
in a few instances for earlier ones.!_ Possibly the burial with 
the mummy of a copy of the ritual was a sufficient substitute 


? For the bandaging of two Middle-Kingdom mummies see M. A. Murray : 
The Tomb of Two Brothers, pp. 54-64; XVIIth Dynasty, Petrie: Qurneh, 
pp. 8,9; XXIst Dynasty, Mace and Elliot Smith: Annales du Service, 1906, 
pp. 166-180 and Pls. IV-VI. 


49 G 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


for the actual performance of the details; but until an 
opportunity arises of examining the wrappings of a series of 
late mummies, judgment must be reserved. Various other 
points arising out of this text will be discussed after the 
next has been dealt with. This latter text is likewise found 
in two late funerary papyri—the Bilingual Rhind Papyri at 
Edinburgh. 

2. The Rhind Papyri.—These two papyri were found by 
A. H. Rhind in an XVIIIth Dynasty tomb at Thebes, which 
was occupied by an intrusive burial of several mummies of 
the Ptolemaic Period. An account of the discovery of the 
tomb was given shortly after by Rhind in his book on the 
Theban Tombs?! and a coloured facsimile by Netherclift, 
with a translation and notes by Dr. Birch, followed shortly 
after.2. The text, which is written both in hieratic and 
demotic characters, was exhaustively studied by Brugsch, 
who devoted a special memoir to it. With the great 
development of demotic scholarship in recent years a new 
edition of the text was needed, and this was undertaken by 
the late Dr. Méller, who published an admirable edition of 
the papyri, with transcriptions, translations and an elaborate 
and valuable commentary.‘ 

The composition ® of the papyri is akin to the various 
late funerary works, such as the Book of Breathings, May 
my Name Flourish, etc. A certain section, however, affects 
embalming, and the rendering given below is based upon 
that of Moller. This section immediately follows the 
reception of the deceased by Anubis. 


1 Thebes, its Tombs and their Tenants, pp. 77 ff. (1862). 

2 Facsimiles of Two Papyri found in a Tomb at Thebes, 1863. 

8 A. H. Rhind’s Zwei Bilingue Papyri, Leipzig 1865. 

4 Die Beiden Totenpapyrus Rhind, Leipzig, 1913. 

5 Miller: op. cit. 8 iv, pp. 8 and 10, where the contents of the text are given 
in tabular form. 


50 


EGYPTIAN TEXTS 


Thou camest joyfully out of the operating-chamber. To thee were 
eight processions (ceremonies) made, divided into thirty-six days. Thou 
camest forth, I made for thee the ceremony of the Great Lake of Khons, 
rest (?) in the tomb-chamber of the necropolis of thy town. (There were 
made ?) nine ceremonies until the seventieth day, because of the seventeen 
members of the god as follows :— 


The seven openings of the head, 
The four sons of Horus, 

The two legs, 

The two arms, 

The breast, 

The back, Total 17, 


divided into seventy days in the embalming-room. The Great Isis, the 
mother of the god, commands to make the beautiful burial of N.* Two 
hundred and six hin of fat were boiled as is done for a sacred animal. 
Thou wast rubbed with balsam by Horus, the lord of the laboratory. 
Shesmu wound with his fingers the divine bandage in order to enwrap 
thy body with the wrappings of the gods and goddesses. Anubis as 
embalmer filled thy skull with resin, corn of the gods, . . . cedar oil, 
mild ox-fat, cinnamon oil; and myrrh is to all thy members. Thy 
body was invested with holy bandages. Come forth to see the winter 
sun on the 26th day of Pharmuthi.? 


The other papyrus has a somewhat similar passage :— 


Isis went to the burial of N. Fat was boiled for her as is done for 
the mother of a sacred animal. For her balsam was rubbed in by Horus, 
lord of the laboratory. Shesmu wound with his fingers the divine bandage, 
in order to wrap up thy body with the bandages of the gods and goddesses. 
Anubis the embalmer furnishes thy body with ointment and bandages. 
Thou comest forth because thou art provided with thine adornment in 
the likeness of Hathor, mistress of the western land, and seest the winter 
sun in his sacred boat on the 26th day of Choiakh.? 


Combining the material of these two texts the passage 
may be paraphrased as follows :— 


1 Here follow the name, titles and filiation of the deceased. 

2 Pap. Rhind No. 1, p. 3, 1 ff. (hieratic text). The corresponding demotic 
text is substantially the same. Miller: op. cit. pp. 18 ff. 

3 Pap. Rhind, No. 2, p. 4, 1. 1 ff. (hieratic text). Moller: op. cit. p. 58. 


51 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


The deceased (in the first text a man, in the second a 
woman) is taken triumphantly from the operating-room,1 
and eight ceremonies are then performed over a period of 
thirty-six days. The corpse is then laid in a chamber of the 
necropolis, where nine further ceremonies are enacted until 
the 70th day, in honour of the seventeen members of the 
god (Osiris). These are detailed and may be summarised 
thus :— 


(1) The seven openings of the head 
(ii) The four children of Horus 
(111) The two legs 
(iv) The two arms 
(v) The breast 
(vi) The back 


eer) 
| et be DD ED 


Total 


This total of seventeen equals the eight ceremonies up 
to the 36th day and nine up to the 70th day mentioned 
above. Isis then orders the burial. Two hundred and six 
measures (hin) of fat are boiled for the embalming, as is 
done for the embalming of the sacred animals,? and a mor- 
tuary priest, impersonating Horus, rubs the body over with 
balsam. Another priest (Shesmu) winds the bandages to 
complete investiture of the deceased in the bandages of the 
gods and goddesses. The embalmer, impersonating Anubis, 
fills the skull with medicaments and a further wrapping in 
bandages ensues. The corpse is then ready for his intro- 
duction to the next world, which is here expressed as meeting 
the winter sun. 


1 Where the flank incision was made and the viscera and brain excised. 
* See the study of the Apis bull’s embalming in Spiegelberg, Aegyptische 
Zeitschrift, t. 56, pp. 1 ff. (1920). 


52 


EGYPTIAN TEXTS 


In the ceremonies i—vi above, there is no evidence what- 
ever on which to suppose, as Brugsch! and Revillout ? 
have done, that “‘ openings’’ are to be understood in the 
case of Nos. ii-vi. The text specifies seventeen ceremonies 
to be performed upon seventeen named parts of the body, 
the first seven of which are the natural openings of the 
head, viz. the eyes, ears, nostrils and mouth. The Egyptian 
word here used is ro, which means literally a mouth. In 
the other cases a different word is used, which, although 
connected with the verbal root ‘“‘ open,’’ means a procession 
or ceremony, and the attempt to reconcile the artificial 
openings made in the body for the purpose of “* packing ”’ 
it with the statement in the text, is therefore based on faulty 
premises.® 

We can perhaps trace a relationship between this text 
and the Ritual of Embalming. The four children of Horus 
(i.e. the viscera) are dealt with in § iii and § iv of the Ritual; 4 
the legs and arms in § xii, and the back in $iv. Directions 
are given in § viii for various parts of the head, including 
the ears, nostrils and mouth, and the filling of the skull, 
rendered empty by the removal of the brain, has its echo 
in §v of the Ritual. The “bandages of the gods and 
goddesses ”’ are likewise detailed in §§ viii, x and xi. 

The next texts to mention, like the last, state the period 
occupied by the embalming and subsequent ceremonies. 

3. The Stele of Dhout.—The inscription relating to the 
funeral ceremonies has been published by Gardiner,® and the 
part which now concerns us he renders as follows :— 


A goodly burial arrives in peace, thy seventy days having been 
fulfilled in thy place of embalming. 


1 Op. cit. supra. 2 Aegyptische Zeitschrift, t. 18, p. 102. 
8 Eliiot Smith : Mémoires de Inst. Eg., t. v, pp. 48 ff. (1906). 
4 See above, pp. 47-8. 5 The Tomb of Amenemhét, p. 56 


53 


ee 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


This stele is in Theban Tomb No. 110, and dates from 
the reign of Queen Hatshepsowet. The same text occurs 
in the Theban Tomb of Antef (No. 164), which is of the reign 
of Tuthmosis ITI. 

4. British Museum Stele No. 878.1—This stele, which 
belongs to a priest of Ptolemaic date, states that he had “a 
goodly burial after the seventy days of his embalming had 
been fulfilled.” 

5. Story of Satne Khamuas.—In this demotic story a 
passage occurs in which the period of embalming is men- 
tioned.? It is rendered by Griffith as follows :— 


And Pharaoh caused to be given to him entry into the Good House? 
of (?) sixteen days, wrapping up of (?) thirty-five days, coffining in seventy 
days and he was laid to rest in his sarcophagus in his house of rest. 


6. Inscription of Anemher.—A text which is published in 
Brugsch: Thesaurus, p. 898, is translated by Griffith, 
which gives particulars as to time, and in this case a period 
of seventy days is again stated, the burial taking place on 
the seventy-first day. The following is Griffith’s rendering: — 


They made for him a burying from the 28th Pharmuti, which was his 
4th day (he died on the 24th) according to that that comes in writing, 
unto the 9th Epiphi, his 71st day making for him every necessary and 
suitable thing that is customary therein according to that that comes in 
writing. The 20th Payni to the 29th (?) they cooked unguents, they 
bound on him the bandages and clothes of byssus and the amulets that 
are proper for the nobles of Egypt. They made for him every purification, 
every cleansing (?); they made for him a great and fine coffin according 
to that that comes in writing from the sixth Epiphi to the end of the 
mourning, he having entered his house of rest in which his father lay. 


1 Sharpe: Egyptian Inscriptions, vol. i, Pl. XLVIII. Budge: Guide to 
Egyptian Galleries (Sculpture), Brit. Mus., p. 266 (1909). 

Griffith : Stories of the High Priests of Memphis, p. 29. 

* “The Good House” or ‘* Beautiful House” is a frequent appellation for 
the embalmers’ workshop. See Gardiner: Tomb of Amenemhdt, p. 72. 

4 Op. cit. pp. 29, 80. 


54 


EGYPTIAN TEXTS 


From this it follows that the embalming was carried on 
up to the 52nd day, the wrapping up to the 67th day, the 
coffining from the 68th to the 70th day, and the burial o 
the 71st. “3 

The frequent repetition of the period of 70 days, the 
fixed order of procedure, and the reference to “ that that 
comes in writing,” makes it evident that the rites of embalm- 
ing were carried out in conformity with a definite canon, 
which, however, has not survived. 

7. Bologna Stele No. 1042.—A hand copy of this stele is 
given by Piehl in his Inscriptions hiéroglyphiques, t. i, 
Pl. XXXVI (text, part i, p. 48). It reads as follows :— 


Year 22. Payni 24th day. On this day was buried the Osiris N,? 
after 80 days of embalming. He was happily buried by his eldest son, 
the prophet Her-ab. 

This mention of eighty days is quite exceptional, although, 
if Piehl’s copy is to be trusted, there is no doubt about the 
reading. 

8. Florence Ostracon No. 2616.2 This ostracon contains 
a fragment of a literary work in which is an allusion to the 
four canopic jars. The speaker states that the King 


gave me my four jars for my mummy and my sarcophagus of alabaster. 


The following references are given for the sake of com- 
pleteness, and refer to the materials used in mummification. 
9. Papyrus Leiden No.344.—This papyrus, which contains 
a long series of admonitions of an Egyptian sage upon the 
disastrous condition into which Egypt had sunk during his 
time, refers to the importance of cedar oil for mummification.4 


1 In the same note Griffith cites three other references to Brugsch (Thesaurus) 
which concern priests. 

* Here follows the name of the deceased with a long list of priestly titles. 

® Golenischeff: Rec. de Trav., vol. iii, 8 ff. 

* Gardiner: The Admonitions of an Egyptian Sage, p. 82. 


55 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


Men do not sail northwards to [Byblos] to-day. What shall we do 
for cedars for our mummies with the produce of which priests are buried, 
and with the oil of which [chiefs] are embalmed... . 


10. Theban Tombs of Senufer and Amenemhab.—There is 
a scene in each of these tombs in which the deceased is 
seen inspecting the burial outfit given to him by the King 
and in the relative inscription this phrase occurs :— 


Fat for embalming the mummy.! 


Before passing on to the Greek texts (Chapter IV), 
reference may be made to an interesting demotic letter in 
the British Museum. This papyrus (No. 10,077), which is 
dated in the 16th year of Ptolemy Philadelphus, is an under- 
taking by an embalmer to mummify the body of his client’s 
son. The client provides the natron, bandages and other 
necessaries, and the embalmer engages to prepare the body 
in the prescribed manner in seventy-two days and to hand 
it over duly treated. In default he promises to pay a fine. 
A photograph of the papyrus, together with a translation 
and commentary of the text, has been published by Spiegel- 
berg.” 

It will be noticed that the period is here stated to be 
seventy-two days, but perhaps the actual embalming occu- 
pied seventy days, the other two days being for transit to 
and from the embalmers’ premises. 


1 Sethe: Urkunden, iv, pp. 538 and 913. 
2 Zeitschrift fiir dg. Sprache, vol. 54 (1918), pp. 111-114 and Pl. IV. 


~s 


56 





FIG. I14.—MUMMY OF THE YOUNGER WOMAN FOUND IN THE TOMB OF AMENOPHIS II 


Showing the damage done by plunderers to the face and chest. (XVIIIth Dynasty) 








FIG, I5.—THE YOUNGER WOMAN FROM THE TCMB OF AMENOPHIS It 
(PROFILE). (XvVIIIth DYNASTY) 





ah. 
Aly 


wy 


i, y 
btm | 
D ¥ 





FIG. 16.—MUMMY OF THE YOUNG PRINCE FOUND IN THE TOMB OF AMENOPHIS II 
SHOWING THE ‘‘ HORUS-LOCK.”’ 


5) 


The large hole in the chest is the work of ancient plunderers. (XVIIIth Dynasty) 








NASTY) 


XVIlIth Dy 


( 


MUMMY OF THE PHARAOH TUTHMOSIS Iv 


HEAD OF THE 


FIG. 17. 


prcrainnatenie eon et : Py 
Ry tL) + 4708 
{ <q vend bana . 
; . : : , - ‘ 
at : idy aeyty 
; meas < 
A we. 1 : ia 





CHAPTER IV 


EMBALMING ACCORDING TO HERODOTUS 
AND LATER AUTHORS 


S the Egyptians themselves have left us little or no 

literature on the technical processes of mummifica- 

tion, we have to rely very largely upon the testimony 
of later writers, principally of Herodotus (fifth century B.c.), 
and of Diodorus Siculus (about 400 years later). As the 
statements of these two writers contain much informa- 
tion which is of great importance, intermingled with less 
reliable matter, it will be worth while to quote their state- 
ments in full with some comments thereon. 

The account of Herodotus is as follows :— 4 


Their (sc. the Egyptians’) manner of mourning and of burial is as 
follows: When any person of distinction in a family dies, all the women 
of the household besmear their heads and even their faces with mud, 
and, leaving the corpse in the house, they wander about the town beating 
themselves, with clothes girt up and their breasts bare, all their relatives 
accompanying them. The men, too, beat themselves, their clothes being 
girt up likewise. After having done thus, they escort the corpse to its 
embalming. There are certain persons who carry on that craft (ie. 
embalming) and who are skilled in their art; these persons, when the 
corpse is brought to them, show to the bearers wooden models of corpses 
painted in imitation of the originals. They show that which they describe 
as the most perfect manner of embalming, whose name I hold it to be 
improper to mention in such a connexion. They then show the second, 


1 Book II, §§ 85-88. The Greek text of Dietsch (Leipzig, Teubner, 1885) 
has been used. We are indebted to Mr. E. E. Trotman for a revision of this 
translation as well as of our translation of Diodorus and for many valuable 
suggestions thereon. 


57 H 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


which is inferior and less expensive, and then the third, which is the 
cheapest. And having explained them all, they enquire from them in 
what style they desire to have the corpse prepared, and having agreed 
upon the cost, the relatives straightway depart; but the embalmers, 
remaining in their workshop, thus proceed to embalm in the most 
costly manner. 

First they draw out the brain through the nostrils with an iron hook, 
taking part of it out in this way, the rest by pouring in drugs. Next, 
with a sharp Ethiopian stone they make an incision in the flank, and 
take out all the entrails, and after cleansing the body and scouring it with 
palm-wine, they purify it with pounded incense; then, having filled the 
body with pure pounded myrrh and cassia and other perfumes, frankin- 
cense excepted, they sew it up again. Having done thus they soak the 
body in natron, keeping it covered for seventy days, for it is not lawful 
to soak it for a longer time than this. And when the seventy days are 
accomplished, they wash the corpse, and wrap the whole body in fine linen 
cut into strips, smearing it with gum, which the Egyptians use instead 
of glue. After this the relatives, having taken the corpse back again, 
make a wooden case of human shape, and having made it, place the corpse 
inside, and having closed it up, put it in a sepulchral chamber, standing 
it upright against the wall. It is thus that the most expensive manner 
of embalming the dead is performed. 

For those who desire the medium style to avoid heavy expense, they 
prepare the corpse thus: Having charged their syringes with cedar oil, 
they fill the inside of the corpse, without making any incision or removing 
the viscera, but inject it at the anus, Then they close the aperture 
to prevent the liquid from escaping and soak the body in natron for the 
prescribed number of days. On the last day they let out the cedar oil 
which had been previously injected, and, such is its potency that it brings 
away the bowels and internal parts in a fluid state, and the natron dissolves 
the flesh so that nothing remains but skin and bones. When this has 
been done they return the body without further manipulation. 

The third manner of embalming is this, which is used only for persons 
of slender means. After washing out the body with a purgative they 
soak it in natron for seventy days and deliver it to be taken back. 


In order to estimate the value of Herodotus’ account, it 
must first be remembered that he visited Egypt at a time 
when Greek influence was becoming stronger and stronger, 
and was gradually superseding customs which had held 


? § 89, not translated here, is discussed in Chapter VIII in connexion with 
certain Ptolemaic practices in Nubia. (See p. 126.) 


58 


HERODOTUS AND LATER AUTHORS 


full sway in Egypt for many centuries before. It must also 
be remembered that the embalmer’s art was a sacred and 
religious function, of which he could scarcely have been 
an eye-witness and upon which his information must have 
come at second-hand. On the whole, however, his account 
is borne out fairly well by an examination of actual mummies 
belonging to earlier periods, for in late mummies bitumen 
applied hot was commonly used, the action of which renders 
examination of the body very difficult. It is certain, 
moreover, that more than three methods of embalming 
were used, as great variation occurs in the treatment of 
individual mummies, as will be seen hereafter. Nor was it 
until quite late times that mummification passed into general 
use for persons other than the wealthy and priestly classes. 

The opening statements of Herodotus as to mourning 
are confirmed by numerous pictures of funeral processions 
which abound in tombs of all periods and in countless papyri, 
and the mourning doubtless began immediately death took 
place, as the death scene in a tomb at Saqqara testifies.? 
The female mourners at funeral processions are generally 
represented with bare breasts and dishevelled hair, and the 
usual attitude of their hands suggests that their action is 
that of putting mud or dust upon their heads, a practice 
which is common in Egypt at the present day. In one 
instance at least the female mourners have their clothes 
** sirt up ”’ to the pitch of indecency.’ 


The transport of the corpse to the embalmers’ workshop 
was doubtless carried out with due ceremony, for in an Old 
Kingdom tomb, that of Pepionkh at Meir, Herodotus’ very 


1 Bissing: Denkmidler Aeg. Sculpiur, Pl. XVIIIp = Capart: Rue de 
Tombeauz, Pl. LXXI. 

2 Theban Tomb of Neferhotpe (No. 49). The scene is reproduced in Maspero : 
Struggle of the Nations, p. 515. 


59 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


words are foreshadowed in the legend to the picture: 
*‘ escourting to the workshop of the embalmer.”’ ! 

The models of mummies in their miniature coffins must 
have been familiar objects in Egypt, and doubtless gave rise 
to Herodotus’ statement that they were kept as models by 
the embalmers, although the actual purpose of their employ- 
ment was very different.? 

The employment of special persons for the embalmer’s 
art is quite borne out by the facts. In Pharaonic times the 
embalmer was called the wt and impersonated Anubis. 
Blackman has suggested * that the embalmers, even in ancient 
times, appear to have belonged to a gild or organisation of 
their own, a fact which we know to have been the case in 
the Greeco-Roman period. 

In this latter period the embalmers were of two kinds, 
the incision-makers or rapacy.orai, and the embalmers and 
wrappers (rapixevrai). In the Ritual of Embalming (supra, 
p. 47) and other texts various other ministrants are named : 
lectors, sem-priests, imy-khant priests, and the ‘‘ Treasurers 
of the God.” 4 

Herodotus scrupulously abstains from naming the first 
method of embalming. The missing name is evidently 
Osiris. 

On the question of price we will defer our remarks until 
we deal with the account of Diodorus, who is more specific 
in this detail. 

The removal of the brain through the nostrils is confirmed 
by innumerable mummies, which will be hereafter described, 
and which often have fragments of brain-matter left behind 


+ This tomb, copied by Dr. Blackman, is not yet published, but the above 
phrase is quoted by Gardiner: Tomb of Amenemhét, p. 45, note 4. 

* For such model mummies and coffins see, for example, Quibell: Tomb of 
Yuaa and Thuiu, Pl. XIX. 

* Article “ Priest, Priesthood (Egyptian),” § xiv, b (i), in Hastings’ Encyclo- 
pedia of Religion and Ethics. * See supra, p. 47 


60 


HERODOTUS AND LATER AUTHORS 


in the skull, which the embalmers did not always succeed 
in removing by the very difficult method of groping with a 
hook through the fractured ethmoid bone, which had to 
be perforated in order to reach the interior of the head. 
The flank incision also is too well known to need more than 
a passing reference, but it is rare to find it sewn up,’ the 
general custom being to leave it gaping open, later to be 
covered by a metal or wax plate. 

It is curious to note that the body-cavity was packed 
with aromatic substances before its immersion in the salt- 
bath. Herodotus is evidently at fault here, as not only 
probability, but the evidence of the mummies themselves, is 
against this.2 Again, he states that the body is kept im- 
mersed for seventy days, but in this he is contradicted by 
the Egyptian evidence detailed in the previous chapter, 
from which the fact emerges that the whole process of em- 
balming occupied seventy days, only one half of this period 
being devoted to the soaking process. The statement is 
noteworthy that it was unlawful to occupy more than 
seventy days, this again being evidence that the embalming 
process was carried out in strict accordance with a definite 
canon, which is implied by text No. 6, translated in the 
previous chapter. 

The wrapping of the mummy, as the Egyptian texts show, 
was a long and complicated process, but its significance was 
evidently not grasped by Herodotus, who refers to it very 
cursorily in connexion with the first method of embalming 
and does not mention it at all in connexion with the other 
two methods; but one important feature, the use of gum,? 
has not escaped him. 


1 See below, p. 119. 

2 Lucas holds that in some cases at least the treatment of the body-cavity 
was carried out prior to immersion. Journ. Egypt. Arch., t. 1, p. 119 

® T.e. resinous paste. 


61 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


The practice of standing the mummy upright and of 
keeping it above ground was not customary until late times, 
when, as Petrie has clearly shown from the mummies of 
the Roman period found by him at Hawara, they were 
kept for long periods before burial. In earlier times it was 
customary to place the mummy upright only for the per- 
formance of the final ceremonies before its interment.! 

The second method of embalming emphasises the use of 
cedar oil, which was at all times an important factor in 
mummification ;2 but although mummies without incisions 
and retaining their internal organs are known, we have no 
Egyptian evidence of the use of syringes. There is no doubt 
that mummies were sometimes treated in this manner, 
and therefore some mechanical means must have been 
employed to inject the oil, which could only thus have 
been forced through the convolutions of the intestines. 
(See p. 79.) 

The third method apparently aims at nothing more than 
washing out the body, and then salting it. 

In all cases the salt-bath is used and for the same period. 

We will now give the account of Diodorus Siculus : 


When a person amongst them dies, all his relatives and friends, putting 
mud upon their heads, go about the town lamenting, until the time of 
burying the body. In the meantime they abstain from bathing and 
from wine and all kinds of delicacies, neither do they wear fine apparel. 
They have three manners of burial: one very costly, one medium and 
one modest, Upon the first a talent of silver is spent, upon the second 


1 Petrie: Hawara, p. 15. For the rites before the mummy see above, 
p. 41. In the Theban Tomb of Haremhab (No. 78) the unusual scene occurs 
of two mummies, standing upright upon a sledge, being drawn towards an open 
shrine which awaits them with open doors. Bouriant : Le Tombeau de Harmhabi 
(Mem. Miss. Arch., t. v, Pl. VI). 

* See the Leyden papyrus quoted above, p. 55. 

* E.g. the interesting series of XIth Dynasty princesses found under the 
temple of Mentuhotpe at Deir-el-Bahari by the excavators of the Metropolitan 
Museum of New York, and also various others referred to in succeeding chapters. 


62 


HERODOTUS AND LATER AUTHORS 


twenty mine, but in the third there is very little cost. Those who attend 
to the bodies have learned their art from their forefathers. These, carrying 
to the household of the deceased illustrations of the costs of burial of each 
kind, ask them in which manner they desire the body to be treated. When 
all is agreed upon, and the corpse is handed over, they (sc. the relatives) 
deliver the body to those who are appointed to deal with it in the accus- 
tomed manner. 

First, he who is called the scribe,! laying the body down, marks on 
the left flank where it is to be cut. Then he who is called the cutter 2 
takes an Ethiopian stone, and cuts the flesh as the law prescribes, and 
forthwith escapes running, those who are present pursuing and throwing 
stones and cursing, as though turning the defilement [of his act] on to his 
head. For whosoever inflicts violence upon, or wounds, or in any way 
injures a body of his own kind, they hold worthy of hatred. The em- 
balmers,* on the other hand, they esteem worthy of every honour and 
respect, associating with the priests and being admitted to the temples 
without hindrance as holy men. When they have assembled for the 
treatment of the body which has been cut, one of them inserts his hand 
through the wound in the corpse into the breast and takes out every- 
thing excepting the kidneys and the heart. Another man cleanses each 
of the entrails, sweetening them with palm-wine and with incense. Finally, 
having washed the whole body, they first diligently treat it with cedar 
oil and other things for over thirty days, and then with myrrh and cinna- 
mon and [spices], which not only have the power to preserve it for a long 
time, but also impart a fragrant smell. Having treated it, they restore 
it to the relatives with every member of the body preserved so perfectly 
that even the eyelashes and eyebrows remain, the whole appearance of 
the body being unchangeable, and the cast of the features recognisable. 
Therefore, many of the Egyptians, keeping the bodies of their ancestors 
in fine chambers, can behold at a glance those who died before they 
themselves were born. Thus, while they contemplate the size and pro- 
portions of their bodies, and even the very lineaments of their faces, 
they present an example of a kind of inverted necromancy and seem to 
live in the same age with those upon whom they look, 


Diodorus gives several particulars which are not men- 
tioned by Herodotus, and as he lived four hundred years 
later than the latter, mummification had deteriorated still 
further from its ancient standards in his time. 

On the manner of mourning both authors agree, but 
Diodorus adds that it was kept up until the time of burial, 


1 


kal mp@tog wév 6 ypappateds Asydpevog. 
* &7ei0’ 6 Acyouevog mapacylotne. * of tapiyevtai. 
68 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


and that washing and luxuries were forgone by the mourners. 
Although three modes of burial are again specified, only one 
of them, the costliest, is described. The mention of specific 
prices, and the reference to the written statement of them, 
seems to imply that a fixed tariff of charges was in use 
in Diodorus’ time, but all the evidence we have as to the 
cost of embalming, in a few Greek papyri, does not lend 


probability to his statement. 


The first of these papyri reads as follows :— 


Account OF FUNERAL EXPENSES. 


bee he ies ie es ok Ape de, 
Earthenware pot .. ce wt 

Red paint .. oe ih 2 se 4 dr. 
Wax.. at oy Ae Ne eh AR GOR, 
Myrrh : ee ate ‘S 4G 4 dr, 
Song (? dirge) 

Tallow Ke wi ae EA Py 

Linen clothes Ji x ia ee hhee Ore 
Mask ae ae ae ee jay GSE 
Cedar oil ; 41 dr. 


Medicament for the ainen niceties ye 4 dr. 
Good oil .. me om afk ne 4 dr. 
Turbon’s wages .. ae wh os 8 dr. 
Lamp-wicks x _ <4 est 24 dr 
Cost of an old tunic 

Sweet wine.. 


Barley iy ) BS 9 ed LOLS 
Leaven ‘is os vr me v 4 dr. 
Dog .. 4 oh at ite 8 dr. 
Little mask (2) aes a, es Pelee et Bats Foe 
2 artabz of loaves Ae. =) via aka 
Pine cone (?) cs ’ 
Mourners .. it f ck Omar 
Carriage by donkey = a we 8 dr. 
Chaff (??) .. ; Mr Ef Se 

Totad ne ie a% .. 440 dr. 


1 Mr. H. I. Bell kindly referred us to this interesting document and supplied 
us with the above translation (from which we have omitted the philological 
notes and the translation of the last lines, which relate to another subject). 


64 


1 


24 
20 


12 


16 


ob. 
ob. 


ob. 


ob. 


ob. 


SSS 
\ 
\. 


y) : 





) 


STY 


HEAD OF THE MUMMY OF YUAA  (xXvilith DYNA 


18 


FIG, 








FIG. I9—-MUMMY OF THUIU, WIFE OF YUAA. (xXvilIth DYNASTY) 








FIG. 20..—-HEAD OF THE MUMMY OF THUIU (xvulIth DYNASTY) 


eho i a ae 


® ' 7 ; e 4 “yy > ok 
- i ype nenas (toga) p 2a 32 8 Ata, Nap ~ 
ho vik aya Stet Bate 


ct ' 5 + ae 








FIG. 21 —HEAD OF THE PHARAOH SETY I, 
(x1xth DyNASTy) 





HERODOTUS AND LATER AUTHORS 


In this important and interesting document, which dates 
from the second or third century 4.D., it will be observed 
that many of the substances named by Herodotus and 
Diodorus occur. The large quantity of linen used is shown 
by the high cost of that item. The mask was also costly. 
A few of the items are obscure, but the “* dog”? may possibly 
be a figure of Anubis, who is often called the dog in Greek 
texts. 

Another papyrus of the same nature, and dating from 
the end of the first century Aa.D., has been published by 
Grenfell and Hunt in the Amherst Papyri, p. 150, No. 125.7 


Account for the expenses of a mummy. My expenses: Cedar oil, 
4 drachme; 2 cotylex of olive-oil, 20 obols; an earthenware pot, 1 ob; 
for a mask and... ., 24 dr.; to the mummifier, 11 dr.; for a necklace 
(?) of 4 minze weight, 810 ob. Expenses of Thermouthis (?) and Harpa- 
gathos: Linen cloth and Harpagathos’ tunic, . . . [dr.]; another tunic 
for Thermouthis’ son... [dr.]; oil ... [dr.]; to the mummifier... 
{The rest is lost.] 


We may quote one more document in this connexion of 
the third century A.D., which is less detailed and is more 
fragmentary in condition :-— 


Account for expenses for the corpse: The expenses were for the 
burial . . . at 48 drachmx; wages of the bearers .. ., 16 dr. 20 ob. ; 
wreaths, 12 ob.; a... of wine... ., 4 dr. 20 ob.? 


Diodorus states that the embalmers’ office is hereditary, 
a statement which is confirmed by a group of demotic 
papyri published by Revillout.® 


The text is published in Wesseley : Studien fiir Paldographie und Papyrologie, 
vol. xxii, No. 56. Cf. Wilcken : Archiv. fiir Pap., t. vii, p. 107 (1923). 

1 We again acknowledge our indebtedness to Mr. H. I. Bell for referring us 
to Wilcken’s Grundziige und Chrestomathie der Papyruskunde, where we found 
references to the above and some of the other Greek papyri quoted in this 
chapter. 

2 Grenfell and Hunt : Fayiéim Towns and their Papyri, p. 250, No. 103. 

8 “ Une Famille de Paraschistes ou Taricheutes thébains,”’ in the Aegyptische 
Zeitschrift, t. xvii (1879), pp. 83-92. 


65 I 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


An interesting detail which is lacking in Herodotus’ 
account, is supplied by Diodorus, who states that a scribe 
(doubtless the lector of Pharaonic times) traces a line for 
the flank incision, and that the cutter, having performed 
his task, flies from the curses and missiles of those who 
witnessed it. Up to the present the statement is uncon- 
firmed, and it is idle to comment upon it. 

Both writers agree that the incision is made with an 
Ethiopian stone, but no reason for the use of this implement 
is given at a time when metal tools had been in common 
use for many centuries. Both agree in the statement that 
the viscera were removed, but Diodorus significantly adds 
** except the kidneys and the heart.” 

The importance of this will be discussed in a later chapter 
when the special treatment of the viscera is dealt with (see 
below, p.145). In this connexion, although neither Herodotus 
nor Diodorus informs us what happened to the organs after 
they had been removed and cleansed, two other classical 
writers refer to them, namely Porphyry and Plutarch. 

The passage from Porphyry is as follows :— 1 

“There is one point which must not be passed over, 
namely, that when they embalm the dead of the wealthy 
class, among other observances paid to the corpse, they 
privately remove the intestines and place them in a chest, 
which they make fast and present before the Sun, while one 
of those occupied in embalming the body recites a prayer. 
And this prayer, which Ekphantos translated from his 
native language, is to the following effect: ‘O Lord Sun 
and all you gods who give life to men, receive me favourably 
and commit me to abide with the everlasting gods. For as 
long as I continued in that life, I have steadfastly reverenced 


+ De Abstinentia, iv, 10. For this and the following translations from 
Plutarch, we are indebted to Mr. E. E. Trotman. 


66 


HERODOTUS AND LATER AUTHORS 


the gods whom my parents instructed me to worship, and I 
have ever honoured those who brought my body into the 
world; while, as concerns my fellow-men, I have done no 
murder, nor betrayed a trust, nor committed any other 
deadly sin. But if, during my life, I have sinned in eating 
or drinking what was unlawful, the fault was not mine, 
but of this ’ (showing the chest in which was the stomach).” 

It is interesting to note that, according to this author, 
the internal parts are regarded as the seat of evil emotions, 
just as the heart and kidneys (as we shall presently see), 
which were not excised from the body, were looked upon as 
the seat of the mind and of good emotions. The prayer 
which is recited during the exposure of the chest to the 
Sun is in many ways reminiscent of the texts on countless 
Egyptian stele, wherein the deceased parades his good 
actions, and the latter part recalls the so-called “‘ Negative 
Confession ’’ in § 125 of the Book of the Dead. 

Plutarch has two references to the viscera, which are of 
similar purport :— 

Who, cutting open the corpse, displayed it to the Sun, and then cast 


those parts (the intestines) into the river, and turned their attention to 
the rest of the body, which had now become purified.t 


and again :— 


In the case of the well-to-do, they imitate the Egyptians, who open 
their dead and extract the intestines, which they cast out before the Sun 
as chargeable with all the sins the man has committed.? 


The destruction of any part of the body was dreaded by 
the Pharaonic Egyptians, and the Book of the Dead and other 
texts are full of prayers that the body shall be complete and 
that no part of it shall be taken away, although it is a curious 


1 Plutarch VII, Sap. Conv., XVI. Ed. Didot, p. 188. 
2 De Carnium Esu, Oratio Posterior. Ed. Didot, p. 1219. 


67 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


fact that we have no record, either Egyptian or Greek, of 
the fate of the brain after it had been removed, nor has any 
mummy yet been found in which the brain or any part of 
it, once removed, has been preserved along with the viscera. 

Diodorus makes no reference at all to the salt-bath, but 
he states that the washing and anointing takes more than 
thirty days to perform, a period which is in accordance with 
the Egyptian texts already cited (supra, pp. 53-56). He 
not only ignores the bandaging, but by his statements as to 
the recognition of the features of the dead, even ancestors 
who had long been dead, it is implied that no bandaging 
was applied, a fact which is quite contrary to the evidence 
of contemporary mummies. Possibly, however, the allusion 
is to the painted portrait panels used in late times. 

Mummies of the Greco-Roman period are often found 
with labels bearing their names attached to them.! These 
labels were tied to the neck and were for identification when 
mummies were buried in pits or caves and piled one on 
another. They were also used when a body was sent for 
embalming or burial by carrier, as the following Greek 
papyrus shows :—? 

Senpamonthes to Pamonthes her brother, greeting. I am sending 
you the body of my mother, Senuris, having a label® on its neck, by 
Tales, father of Hierax, in a boat suitable (for this purpose), the cost 
having been completely defrayed by me. This is a description of the 
body. It has on the outside a rose-coloured shroud and the name is 
written upon the region of the belly. I pray for your lasting health. 

One of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri refers to the transport 
of a mummy, which was not ready for despatch when the 
messengers arrived for it.4 


1 E.g. Petrie: Dendereh, p. 32. On the subject of mummy labels see the 
important article by Krebs: Aeg. Zeit., 82 (1894), pp. 86-51. 

* The text of this papyrus (second or third century a.p.) and an account 
of its contents, not a full translation, is given by Wilcken, op. cit., t. ii, No. 499. 
Text No. 498 is similar. 3 tapAa. 

* A.S. Hunt: Oxyrhynchus Papyri, pt. vii, No. 1068, pp. 228, 224. 


68 


HERODOTUS AND LATER AUTHORS 


Yet another text, the label attached to a case containing 
three bodies, relating to the transport and burial of mummies 
in Greek times, must be quoted, as it gives directions for the 
burial of the bodies in the Theban necropolis.! 


For the Tomb of Seneponyx. My daughter, Ptahmonthé, daughter 
of Papsenis, and his own daughter are packed herein. I have completely 
defrayed the cost of transport and all other charges. Will you place it 
(sc. the case) within the tombs which are in the Memnonia ? 


A Greek papyrus in the Louvre? is a letter to the 
governor of the district, notifying the violation of a tomb. 
After the customary salutations it proceeds :-- 


In the year xiv, while Lochus my parent had gone to Diospolis, 
certain persons entered one of the tombs which belong to me in the 
Thebaid, and having opened it, despoiled some of the mummies buried 
there and at the same time carried off all the gear which I had deposited 
there, amounting to the value of 10 talents of copper. In consequence, 
as the door was left wide open, the well-preserved bodies had suffered 
from wolves, which had partly devoured them. 


The termination of the letter is a request that the guilty 
parties should be found and brought to justice. 

Mummification persisted in Egypt long after its purpose 
was not only nullified but reversed by the introduction of 
Christianity. Very many mummies of the Coptic period are 
known which are debased but undoubted examples of the 
embalmer’s art. Coptic literature is silent on the subject 
of embalming,? but we have contemporary and medieval 


1 Revillout : Aegyptische Zeitschrift, t. xviii (1880), p. 107. A very large 
number of Greek mummy labels will be found translated by Krebs in the article 
previously cited. 

2 Papyrus No. 6, published in Notices et Eviraits des Manuscrits, t. xviii, 
pt. ii, pp. 160 ff. (1858). 

3 We owe this information to Mr. W. E. Crum, to whom we are also indebted 
for many valuable references to Coptic burial customs, among which the 
most important is to the article of Carl Schmidt in the Aegyptische Zeitschrift, 
t. xxxii (1894), pp. 52 ff. 


69 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


references to it in Greek and Latin texts, where the fathers 
of the Church inveigh against it as a pagan custom and 
inconsistent with Christian beliefs. The early Christians 
often embalmed the bodies of martyrs and holy men out of 
reverence and respect for them. 

The embalming of the martyrs in Egypt is referred to 
in the following passage of the Syriac text of the Paradise 
of the Fathers. After their martyrdom, the holy Apollo and 
his companions were visited by their followers :—- 


And we ourselves saw the martyrium wherein he and those who had 
testified with him were laid, and we prayed and worshipped God, and 
also touched their dead bodies, for they were not as yet buried because 
of the inundation of the Nile, but lay embalmed upon their biers in 
Thebais, and for this reason we made ready to insert here the history of 
the man. 


In the Syriac version of the life of St. Anthony, by 
Athanasius, the saint addresses his faithful brethren as he 
feels his end approaching,— 


And if your minds are set upon me, and ye remember me as a father, 
permit no man to take my body and carry it into Egypt, lest, according 
to the custom which they have, they embalm me and lay me up in their 
houses, for it was |to avoid] this that I came into this desert. And ye 
know that I have continually made exhortation concerning this thing and 
begged that it should not be done, and ye well know how much I have 
blamed those who observed this custom. Dig a grave then, and bury 
me therein, and hide my body under the earth, and let these my words 
be observed carefully by you, and tell ye no man where ye lay me; [and 
there I shall be] until the Resurrection of the dead, when I shall receive 
[again] this body without corruption.? 


The corresponding passage in the Greek version is very 
similarly worded. 

Finally, Augustine in one of his sermons refers to Egyptian 
embalming in the following passage :— 


? Budge: The Paradise of the Fathers, t. i, p. 882. 
* Budge: op. cit., t. i, p. 78. 8 Migne, t. x, col. 2, p. 967. 


70 


HERODOTUS AND LATER AUTHORS 


Now I beg of you not to bring against me the usual argument: ‘ The 
bodies of those buried do not remain uncorrupted ; if they did, I could 
believe in their rising again.” I suppose, then, that the only people 
who believe in the Resurrection are the Egyptians, who carefully preserve 
the bodies of their dead! For they have a custom of drying them up, 
which makes them as durable as bronze. Are we to believe, then, according 
to those who know nothing of the hidden repositories in the universe, 
where all things are laid up for Him who placed them there, even when 
they have passed out of the ken of the mortal senses, that the Egyptians 
alone have true grounds for belief in the Resurrection of the Dead, and 
that the faith of all other Christians rests on a doubtful basis ? 4 


1 Augustine : Sermo 361, De Resurrectione Mortuorum (= De Diversis, 120). 


71 





CHAPTER V 


MUMMIFICATION IN THE OLD AND 
MIDDLE EMPIRES 


E are sadly hampered in our enquiries into the 

WV dawn of the art of mummifying through lack of 
material, but we may at once dispose of the notion 

that the predynastic Egyptians embalmed their dead. Many 
thousands of predynastic skeletons and naturally desiccated 
bodies have been examined from many sites in Egypt and 
Nubia by competent authorities. In none of these has the 
slightest trace of any preservative material whatever been 
found, nor has Dr. Schmidt, who has devoted the closest 
attention to the subject,! been able to detect any by means 
of chemical tests. The muscular tissues of these desiccated 
bodies often simulate resin, but the resemblance is utterly 
delusive. The skulls often contain particles which more 
than one writer has mistaken for resin or bitumen, but it 
has been proved that this material is really desiccated 
brain.2. Nevertheless, there is the somewhat paradoxical 
fact that the body of an ancient Egyptian is hardly ever 
presented to us in a more excellent state of preservation 
than in some of the predynastic graves (such as those dis- 
covered by Dr. Reisner at Naga-ed-Dér)—but preservation 
is the result, not of art, but of the operation of natural 


1“ Chemische und biologische Untersuchungen von dgyptischen Mumien- 
material,”’ in the Zeit. fiir allgemeine Physiologie, Band VII, 1907, pp. 369-392. 
2 Journ. Anatomy and Physiology, vol 36, 1902, pp. 875-380. 


72 


aay, 
iat 4 [a 
ref Se, 
I a 
SMR, AI Le 
Vj “Ae 





FIG. 22.—HEAD OF THE PHARAOH RAMESSES I] (xIxth DYNASTY) 








FIG: 23.—MUMMY OF THE PHARAOH MENEPTAH, 
(xIxth DYNASTY) 








FIG. 24..-HEAD OF THE PHARAOH MENEPTAH (PROFILE) 


“ 
jp 
ay 


Pe 
-* 
= 
i 
. 
> 
—— he 
a Sout 
- oft = 
aa 4 
age = 
f 


sa Gan Or)? oe ) hed 


Sear Fy _ 


; i 
' - 
s 


ee 


to 
y 
+ 
j 4 
7 athe dy 
f 
“ 
tn ~ J 
4 
t 
i 
an 
* 
? 
* 
4 
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o° Ais 


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ty 


at's : 


te 








FIG. 25.—HEAD OF THE MUMMY OF SETY II ENCRUSTED WITH THE 
RESINOUS PASTE USED BY THE EMBALMERS. (XIXth DYNASTY) 





OLD AND MIDDLE EMPIRES 


agencies. The corpses of these archaic people were placed 
directly in the dry sand and completely covered up, So as 
to shut out all access of air: as the result in many cases 
they became desiccated and perfectly preserved. Important 
as are the predynastic burials from the point of view of 
archeology and anthropology, they do not come within the 
Scope of this book, as they are not true mummies, i.e. 
bodies embalmed and preserved by artificial means.1 

The earliest embalmers had not acquired sufficient skill 
to render the bodies enduring, and as a result the mummies 
are so extremely fragile and perishable that none of such 
specimens is to be found in museums. As we have shown 
in Chapter I, there is strong presumptive evidence that 
mummification was attempted in the Ist Dynasty. The 
tombs of this age discovered at Nagada by De Morgan,? at 
Abydos by Petrie,’ and at Naga-ed-Dér by Reisner,‘ denote 
considerable elaboration of the funerary cult. The discovery 
in one of these tombs of the bones of a human arm, torn 
from a body, which was adorned with bracelets and wrapped 
in linen, has been claimed to support the view that mummifi- 
cation was attempted.> The predynastic custom of burying 
bodies in a flexed position persisted throughout the first 
three dynasties, the adoption of the extended position does 
not appear before the commencement of the Pyramid Age 
(1Vth to VIth Dynasties). 

During his excavations in the necropolis of Saqqara, in 


1 For large and valuable collections of material the reader is referred to the 
numerous publications which deal specially with predynastic burials, especially 
the works of Petrie, Reisner and the Reports of the Archeological Survey of 
Nubia. 

* Recherches sur les Origines de l Egypte. 

* Royal Tombs of the Earliest Dynasties (2 vols., Eg. Expl. Fund). 

* Early Dynastic Cemeteries of Naga-ed-Dér, 2 vols., 1908-9. 

° For this arm and its jewellery see Petrie: Royal Tombs, pt. ii, 1901, 
frontispiece. 


73 K 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


a cemetery of the IInd Dynasty, Quibell discovered some 
human remains which seem to show that definite attempts 
at mummification had been made. One of these bodies, 
that of a woman of about thirty-five years of age (Fig. 1), 
was lying in a wooden coffin and was completely enwrapped 
in a complex series of bandages—more than sixteen layers 
still intact, and probably at least as many more destroyed : 
ten layers of fine bandage, then six layers of somewhat 
coarser cloth, and next to the body a series of much corroded, 
very irregularly woven cloth, much coarser than the outer 
layers. Each leg was wrapped separately. The body was 
flexed, as was usual at that period. In the wide interval 
between the bandages and the bones, there was a large mass 
of extremely corroded linen, whereas the intermediate and 
superficial layers were quite well preserved and free from 
corrosion, except along a line where the cloth was corroded 
to represent the rima pudendi—a fact of great interest when 
it is recalled that in the Vth, and probably I[Vth, Dynasties, 
it was the custom to fashion, in the case of male mummies, 
an artificial phallus. The corrosion is strong, presumptive 
evidence that some material (probably crude natron) was 
applied to the surface of the body in order to preserve it.1 

Professor Garstang found similarly treated bodies, which 
he places between the IIIrd and IVth Dynasties, at Beni 
Hasan, but he did not recognise that any attempt at mummi- 
fication had been attempted.? 

Whilst excavating at Meidiim in 1891 Petrie discovered 
a very remarkable mummy, which he presented to the 
museum of the Royal College of Surgeons in London (Fig. 8), 
where we have recently re-examined it. The body is wrapped 
in large quantities of linen bandages of various textures. 


1 Report, British Association, Dundee 1912, p. 612. 
2 Burial Customs of Ancient Egypt, pp. 29-80 and fig. 18. 


74 


OLD AND MIDDLE EMPIRES 


The outermost wrappings were saturated with resin, and 
the embalmers then moulded the mass carefully into shape, 
bestowing the minutest care to every detail of the form of 
the body. The details of the face, which is now somewhat 
distorted owing to the wrinkling of the linen and to the 
breakage of the nose in ancient times, are emphasised by 
paint, the eyes, eyebrows, and moustache being carefully 
traced. The resin-soaked linen set to form a carapace of 
stony hardness completely investing the whole head and 
body, and bulking it out to rather more than life-size. The 
generative organs are modelled with minute precision, and 
are so absolutely faithful to nature that it is hard to realise 
that they are merely represented by a linen and resin model. 
This mummy affords evidence that circumcision was prac- 
tised. The body is lying in the fully extended position, 
which henceforth replaced the crouching attitude of earlier 
bodies, with the arms fully extended. The body-cavity is 
closely packed with resin-soaked linen.1 The head (which 
has been broken from the trunk) rattles when shaken. 
Some free matter is therefore within the skull, but it is not 
possible to say whether this is desiccated brain or some 
artificial filling, though it is almost certainly the former. 

The exact age of this mummy is uncertain. On arche- 
ological evidence it may be as early as the IIIrd Dynasty, 
but the extended position and the great advance in technique 
which it displays would seem to indicate a somewhat later 
date, probably Vth Dynasty. In any case it belongs to the 
Old Kingdom and is a wonderful testimony to the embalmers’ 
skill in the Pyramid Age, and shows that they aimed at 
making a model or statue of the deceased out of, and whilst 
preserving, the actual tissues of his body. 


1 It is known that the viscera were removed at least as early as the IVth 
Dynasty, as canopic jars of that period are known. 


75 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


Professor Reisner’s excavations in the Pyramid-field at 
Gizeh in 1913 brought to light a mummy of great interest. 
It was lying in a fully extended position in a rectangular, 
granite sarcophagus. Although plundered in ancient times, 
masses of linen bandaging remained. The embalming- 
incision is clearly visible in the customary position and was 
plugged with a large cake of resin, and the whole body, 
considering its great antiquity and the rough handling which 
it suffered at the hands of the plunderers, is in a wonderful 
state of preservation. Unfortunately no detailed description 
of this mummy has yet been published, but a photograph of 
it appeared in the excavators’ report.1_ The whole treatment 
evidently resembles that of the Meidim mummy. 

In course of digging near the same site in the Old King- 
dom cemetery near the Great Pyramids, Professor Junker 
found a curious variation of the same method of procedure 
as that adopted in the Meidim mummy, which he describes 
as follows: ‘“‘In two graves we found the body covered 
with a layer of stucco-plaster, a method of treatment which 
is entirely peculiar. First of all the corpse was covered with 
a fine linen cloth, with the special purpose of preventing the 
mass of plaster from getting into the mouth, ears, nose, 
and so on. Then the plaster was put on and modelled 
according to the form of the body, the head being in one 
case so accurately followed that one can clearly see the 
fallen-in nose and twisted mouth. . . . In two further cases 
it was not the whole body that was covered with this layer 
of stucco, but only the head; apparently because the head 
was regarded as the most important part, as the organs 
to taste, sight, smell and hearing were contained in it.” 2 


1 Museum of Fine Arts Bulletin, Boston, U.S.A., vol xi, No. 66, November 
1913, p. 58. 
* Journal of Egyptian Archeology, vol. i, p. 252. 


76 


OLD AND MIDDLE EMPIRES 


Junker’s interpretation takes no account of what was 
probably the strongest motive for this curious procedure, 
namely, the perpetuation of the dead man’s identity by 
accurate preservation of his features. He connects the 
plastered masks with the “substitute heads’’ found in 
the tombs, to which we have already referred. 

In the Cairo Museum is a mummy stated to be that of 
King Merenré of the VIth Dynasty, found in his pyramid 
at Saqqara.! Although it was long ago shown that on the 
evidence of its technique the body cannot be older than the 
XVIIIth Dynasty,” the statement is still repeated.2 This 
mummy is evidently an intrusive later burial. Exactly the 
same state of affairs is seen in the mummy, which is now in 
the British Museum, wrongly claimed to be that of Mykerinus 
of the [Vth Dynasty, and found by Vyse in the third pyramid 
of Gizeh in 1837. The archeological evidence of the coffin 
and the technical evidence of the bones, again prove that we 
are dealing with a later intrusive burial. The Cairo Museum, 
however, contains a body which is certainly of the Vth 
Dynasty. It was discovered in the winter of 1897-8 by 
Petrie at Desasheh, and thus described by him in his report : 4 
** Within lay the body on its back, head north, the head 
turned to the N.W. corner, and the feet far from the base. 
This seems as if the coffin had been lowered with the body 
in it, a tilt to one end having driven the body into that 
position. A stout, well-formed, but plainly made head-rest 
was set on end upon the breast. The sexual parts were 
modelled in cloth and placed in position. The whole body 
was fully wrapped up in linen, the skin and ligaments were 
firm and strong; there was no sign of mummification in 


1 Maspero: Guide du Visiteur, ed. iv, 1915, p. 309. 
2 Cairo Scientific Journal, vol. ii, 1908, p. 205. 

3 Breasted : History of Egypt, 2nd ed., 1919, fig. 77. 
4 Deshasheh, p. 15. 


77 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


this or other bodies in the cemetery, but only plain drying.” 
The opinion that the body had been desiccated rather than 
embalmed is shared by Maspero,! but the treatment of the 
organs of reproduction and the preservation of the skin 
and ligaments would seem to indicate that the body had 
been prepared in the same way as (though less success- 
fully than) the Meidim and Gizeh mummies described 
above. 

With the advent of the Middle Kingdom our material 
is somewhat more abundant. Many mummies of the XI- 
XIIIth Dynasties have been found from time to time, but 
with few exceptions they have either perished or been 
scattered to various museums in Europe and America 
without the publication of any adequate description. 

Whilst excavating the XIth Dynasty temple at Deir-el- 
Bahari in the winter of 1906~7, Professor Naville discovered 
beneath the temple a series of tombs belonging to princesses 
of the period. Although they had all been plundered in 
antiquity, some interesting evidences of mummification were 
found. Unfortunately these have been distributed to several 
museums without any technical description of them having 
been published. One of them, which was broken to pieces, 
is now in the British Museum and is thus referred to in the 
report :? “The mummy, which was that of a woman, was 
in fragments. The skull (lower jaw missing), two feet and 
an arm, are now in the British Museum (Nos. 40924—7), 
The skull has pathological alterations; a swelling of the 
bone on either side of the head, probably indicating a condi- 
tion of inflammation before death. The feet and hands are 
very delicate, and the nails of the latter are carefully tinted 


1 Guide du Visiteur, ed. iv, 1915, p. 806, No. 8100. 
* The Eleventh Dynasty Temple of Deir-el-Bahari, pt. i, p. 44. The arm and 
the feet are photographed on Pl. X of that work. 


78 


OLD AND MIDDLE EMPIRES 


with henna.” In another tomb, that of Princess Kemsit, 
a second mummy was found, “ which had been stripped 
and roughly tied up again, was that of a woman and un- 
doubtedly Kemsit herself. The head was twisted towards 
the left, as is usual in the XIth Dynasty . .. and, as we 
should expect from the paintings in the tomb, the skull is 
negroid in type.” 1 Yet another of the princesses, Henhenit 
by name, was found in her tomb. “ Her hands and feet are 
small and delicately formed, her hair short and straight. 
This is a very interesting mummy. It and the sarcophagus 
have been assigned to the Metropolitan Museum of New 
York.” 2 A very small photograph of this mummy is 
given (in op. cit. Pl. X, Fig. 8), but unfortunately it shows 
the right side of the body, so that we are unable to say 
whether it had an embalming incision or not (Fig. 6). The 
body is fully extended with the hands on the thighs. The 
anterior abdominal wall is broken, the body-cavity being 
now apparently empty. The American expedition, working 
upon the same site about ten years later, discovered several 
other mummies of princesses of this period. This series of 
royal mummies of the XIth Dynasty from Deir-el-Bahari is 
of exceptional interest and importance to the student of 
the history of embalming. Unfortunately no exact data are 
yet available as to the technique adopted; but we under- 
stand that, in some cases at least, no embalming-wound was 
found in either flank or in fact elsewhere. The preservation 
of the body seems to have been effected by a process men- 
tioned by Herodotus. Resinous material was injected into 
the alimentary canal per anum. These mummies are in- 
teresting for another reason. Some of them are tattooed 
and represent not only the sole examples of tattooing yet 


1 Op. cit. pp. 49-50. 
2 These three brief reports are all we have by way of description. 


79 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


found in ancient Egyptian bodies, but the earliest evidence 
of the practice anywhere. 

Working near the Pyramids of Saqqara in the winter of 
1906-7, Quibell discovered two interesting mummies of the 
early Middle Kingdom. Their fragile state made removal 
an impossibility, but opportunities were fortunately given for 
an examination, the report of which was published in the 
memoir recording the excavations. The body (of Karenen) 
lay on its left side with its head to the north resting on a 
wooden pillow. Over the head was a cartonnage mask, 
with the wig painted green, the face yellow, and the mous- 
tache and beard green. The body was invested in great 
quantities of linen and an elaborate series of bandages. 
The arms, which were separately wrapped, were crossed on 
the breast, a posture which became customary in the late 
XVIlIth Dynasty, but is quite exceptional in early times. 
The hands were clenched. The whole body-cavity was 
filled with bundles of linen, on some of which incrustations 
of resin were clearly discernible. In the upper part of the 
thorax the remains of a viscus, probably the heart, were 
found. The embalming-wound was a fusiform gaping orifice 
in the usual position on the left flank. The penis was cir- 
cumcised. Each leg was wrapped separately, the outermost 
wrappings being thickly encrusted with red resin. The 
inner wrappings, both on the limbs and body, were very 
much blackened and burnt, and were covered with salt 
crystals. The face was thickly smeared with resin, plugs 
of which were also placed in the nostrils. The eye-sockets 
were filled with plugs of linen, pushed in between the sunken 
eyes and the eyelids. 


+ A tattooed Nubian body of the same date has been recorded. 
* Elliot-Smith in Quibell: Excavations at Saqqara 1906-7, Cairo 1908, 
pp. 13-14. 


80 





MUMMY OF AN UNKNOWN WOMAN (XIxth DYNASTY), 


FIG. 26, 


TAUSRET 


PROBABLY QUEEN 








FIG, 27..~MUMMY OF THE PHARAOH RAMESSES III. 
(xxth DYNASTY) 





/ 


iV 
f 


4 
ke 


PF ed, 
P3 


77 
+ 


A 
ith 


i SO ERE 
ete ¢ tye. 
SEA A 2 


7, 


SS ee 





FIG. 28.—-HEAD OF THE MUMMY OF RAMESSES V 
Showing the eruption of the skin (probably small-pox) 








FIG. 29.—HEAD OF THE MUMMY RAMESSES VI BROKEN TO 
PIECES BY THE ANCIENT PLUNDERERS 






of 
é 
’ 
a ae F ‘ . - 5 
: Wa s 
“A , ey seer ick 
' 7 | 
* A 7 x Wi ; “ 
B- i 4 be F ! ; : 
pig bee Le 


> 
eo8 





. = | 
4 


Fi 





OLD AND MIDDLE EMPIRES 


The face bore a short, reddish moustache and beard of 
about two weeks’ growth, and the short hair on the head was 
of the same colour. The other body, that of a woman, 
was not in such a good state of preservation. It apparently 
had been treated in the same way as the man’s, but the 
fingers were extended and not clenched. It was possible 
to ascertain in both cases that the ethmoid bone was intact 
—another proof, if any were needed, that the custom of 
removing the brain through the nostrils is a product of a 
much later date. 

An early XIIth Dynasty tomb discovered at Lisht by 
the American Expedition in the winter of 1906-7 contained 
a rich array of objects, amongst which were the much 
disintegrated remains of a mummy.! Enough remained, 
however, to show that the viscera had been removed through 
the usual embalming-wound, which was afterwards plugged 
with linen soaked in resin. The viscera were found in the 
four canopic jars. The body-cavity appears to have been 
packed with sawdust mixed with resin and with balls of 
linen, and the heart left in situ in the thorax. No attempt 
had been made to remove the brain or to pack the mouth 
or nose. A little resin was placed on the eyes, and the lids 
pulled down so as partly to conceal them. The viscera had 
been wrapped in linen parcels and embedded in some 
molten resinous matter poured into each of the canopic 
jars. 

Amongst the smaller pit-tombs at Beni Hasan some very 
fruitful excavations were carried out by Professor Garstang 
in 1902-4, and a number of bodies was found. Curiously 
enough, Piofessor Garstang failed to recognise that mummi- 


1 The tomb and its contents are fully described in The Tomb of Senebtisi 
by Mace and Winlock, New York, 1916. The mummy is dealt with in the 
appendix by Elliot Smith. 


81 L 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


fication had been practised—indeed he definitely states the 
contrary opinion. He evidently looked for such evidence 
as we find in mummies of the New Kingdom and later, and 
does not allow for the fact that a very different technique 
was employed in the Middle Kingdom. The photograph of 
the head of Apa (op. cit. Fig. 177, p. 172) bears unmistakable 
evidence of artificial treatment. The photographs of the 
coffin and mummy of Userhét show a method of burial 
exactly analogous to that of Senebtisi, and the inference is 
that the body was treated in the same manner. 

The two mummies of the XIIth Dynasty discovered in 
a small tomb at Rifeh by Petrie, and now in the Manchester 
Museum, have been fully examined and described, and they 
afford valuable information as to the technical processes of 
mummification during the Middle Kingdom.2 The use of 
the preserving-bath at this period is further demonstrated 
by the fact that the finger and toe-nails were tied on to the 
digits with thread to prevent them from coming away with 
the macerated epidermis during immersion. This procedure 
was followed throughout the New Kingdom (see p. 88). 
The bodies had been eviscerated, but owing to their fragile 
condition the body-wall had fallen in and no details of the 
embalming-incision could be observed, but the chest and 
abdomen had been packed with matting or coarse linen. 
The brain had not been extracted, and in one of the skulls 
a mass of desiccated brain was found. In the report on 
these two mummies a careful record of the bandaging is 
made and exhaustive anatomical and chemical reports are 
appended. 

For the period intervening between the Middle and New 


+ Burial Customs of Ancient Egypt, p. 171. 


* M. A. Murray and others: The Tomb of Two Brothers, Manchester 1910, 
pp. 31 ff. 


82 


OLD AND MIDDLE EMPIRES 


Kingdoms, we have records of only two mummies.! This 
period, the length of which is so much in dispute between 
historians, corresponds to the time in which rishi-coffins 
(see below, p. 136) were in use. In the necropolis of Qurneh, 
near Thebes, Petrie found an undisturbed burial of this 
period, which he assigns to the XVIIth Dynasty, and of 
which he has given a full account.2, The wrappings have 
been carefully recorded; this is one of the few reliable 
accounts we have of the exact methods of swathing, which 
varied considerably from time to time. The body had 
almost entirely decayed, and very little could be learned 
from it. “‘ Inside all [the bandages] the legs were wrapped 
separately, the arms, hands and fingers each wrapped 
separately diagonally. Pads of small cloths were used, but 
the whole was so much rotted by insects and decay, and 
loosened by the decay of all the flesh and shifting of bones, 
that the exact position could not be seen. Inside the 
stomach and pelvis was a thick mass of cloth squeezed in 
tightly, taking a mould of the whole hollow, 10 inches long, 
74 wide, 24 thick. A large quantity of dark brown dust 
lay around the bones. The whole skeleton was perfectly 
preserved, the bones hard and greasy.’’8 

The other mummy belonging to this period is that of 
Seknenré, one of the last kings of the XVIIth Dynasty. This 
mummy is of very great interest, although it is not a normal 
one, for Seknenré met his death either in battle or at 
the hands of assassins, the evidence for which we shall 
presently see from his skull. All that now remains of the 
king is a badly damaged, disarticulated skeleton, enclosed 


1 Three royal mummies of this period, those of two of the Antef Kings and 
of Queen Aahotpe, have been discovered in recent times (mid-nineteenth century) 
but all of them were destroyed. 

2 Petrie: Qurneh, pp. 6-10. 3 Op. cit, p. 8. 


83 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


in an imperfect sheet of soft, moist, flexible, dark-brown 
skin, which has a highly aromatic, spicy odour. The skin 
resembles that of mummies of the Coptic period after they 
have been exposed to the air and the preservative salts have 
deliquesced and softened the tissues. But by chemical 
tests Dr. W. A. Schmidt was unable to find in Seknenré’s 
skin any greater quantity of chloride of sodium than occurs 
in untreated human tissues. The spicy odour of the skin 
is due to the fact that it has been sprinkled with powdered 
aromatic wood or sawdust. No attempt was made to put 
the body into the customary mummy-position; the head 
had not been straightened on the trunk, the legs were not 
fully extended, and the arms and hands were left in the 
agonised attitudes into which they had been thrown in the 
death-spasms following the murderous attack, the evidence 
of which is so clearly impressed on the battered face and 
skull. Instead of being put into an attitude of repose, as 
was the usual custom in embalming, the face was left as 
it was found at the time of death, the lips widely retracted 
from the teeth, so that the mouth forms a distorted oval, 
the upper lip being pulled up towards the right, and the 
lower lip downward to the left. The whole attitude of the 
body is such as we might expect to find in the body of one 
who had suffered a violent death. Maspero reconstructed 
the death scene with great skill! and has also interpreted 
the state of the body, to which reference has just been made, 
as being clear evidence that it was hurriedly mummified, 
far away from the laboratories of the embalmers, probably 
on or near the field of battle. Dr. Fouquet 2 considered 
that the king had been killed on the field of battle, and 
that his mummy had been sent to Thebes for embalming, 


1 Les Momies Royales, p. 528. * Op. cit. Appendix IV, p. 776. 
84 


OLD AND MIDDLE EMPIRES 


and as the journey would have occupied some days, the body 
must have arrived in an advanced state of decomposition. 
The evidence is all against this view and favours Maspero’s 
interpretation. The condition of the mummy is clearly 
not due to delay in being submitted to the embalmers, but 
to the manner of preserving the body—the method which 
remained in vogue in the XVIIIth Dynasty—and in this 
case it was performed in a rough and hasty manner. If the 
embalming had been done in a leisurely manner in Thebes, 
or in any other place where proper facilities existed, the 
mummy would certainly have received the usual careful 
preparation for wrapping, and the head and limbs would 
have been arranged in the customary way, and the face 
would have received its elaborate toilet after the manner 
of other mummies. 

In the process of embalming a vertical incision was 
made in the left flank. This opening is now elliptical, and 
through it the greater part of the abdominal viscera had 
been removed. An opening large enough for the hand to 
pass through was likewise made in the diaphragm in order 
to remove the thoracic viscera. The abdomen, but not the 
thorax, was packed with linen, which had set into a solid 
mould with well-marked impressions of the embalming- 
wound and the hole in the diaphragm. Some portions of 
the viscera which had not been cleared out also adhered to 
this linen mass. No attempt had been made to remove the 
brain, nor were the extensive wounds in the skull used as 
a means of introducing any preservative or other matter 
into the cranium. 

From an examination of the wounds on his skull, it is 
clear that Seknenré met his death in an attack by at least 
two, and probably more, persons armed with weapons, one 
of which seems to have been an axe and the other a spear. 
The absence of any injuries to the arms or other parts of 

85 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


the body shows that no resistance could have been offered 
to the attack, and it is probable that the wounds were 
inflicted whilst Seknenré was lying, perhaps asleep, on his 
right side. The anatomical details of the wounds and their 
positions and effects, by which the death-scene of this king 
can be fairly accurately reconstructed, have been worked out 
in detail elsewhere, and it would be tedious to repeat them. 
This long-forgotten tragedy has left its mark for ever in a 
large gash in the frontal bone, in the hair matted with clotted 
blood, in another scalp wound which penetrated the frontal 
bone, in the broken bones of the nose, in the broken malar 
bone and orbit, in a spear-thrust immediately below the 
ear which smashed off the mastoid process, and was only 
prevented from doing further damage by the spear-point 
striking the atlas vertebra: in all these gruesome details, 
and in the expression of the face and the contortions of the 
body, is the vision of agony, which, once seen, is not easily 
forgotten. 


1 The Royal Mummies, pp. 4-6. 


86 


CHAPTER VI 


MUMMIFICATION IN THE XVIIItrs TO XXtu 
DYNASTIES 


our material for the study of the technique of mummi- 

fication becomes more abundant and chronologically 
continuous. The two great finds of royal mummies in 1881 
and 1898 respectively have provided us with the bodies of 
most of the sovereigns of the New Empire, the most brilliant 
period in Egypt’s eventful history. Wrecked and despoiled 
as they all are, we can nevertheless follow the embalmers’ 
manipulations and study the progress of his craft, and by 
our observations on the technique of the mummies of the 
Pharaohs whose chronological position is known, we can 
date any other mummies which are anonymous or unin- 
scribed and assign them to their proper places. 

From the ill-preserved and fragile bodies of earlier periods 
which we considered in the previous chapter, we come to 
a series of mummies which show that the embalmers had 
devised a means of preserving their subjects in a fashion 
which was far more efficacious than that employed by their 
predecessors. From the time of Aahmosis I, the founder 
of the XVIIIth Dynasty, onwards, it became the invariable 
rule to remove the brain, a practice described by Herodotus, 
but of which there is no positive evidence prior to the 
XVIIIth Dynasty. Resinous paste was employed, which, 
on drying, imparted to the body a firmer consistency, 
rendering it much more enduring and preserving the integrity 

87 


F:::: the commencement of the XVIIIth Dynasty 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


of the skin. The saline bath was in use for immersion of 
the body. In the steeping process the epidermis peeled off 
and carried with it all the body-hair. The nails were 
retained only because special precautions were taken to 
prevent them from being dislodged. The head was appar- 
ently not immersed, for the epidermis and hair of the face 
and scalp are usually intact. To prevent the loss of the nails, 
the embalmers either tied them on to the fingers and toes, 
or placed a metal thimble over the tip of the finger or toe 
for the same purpose. Many of the mummies which have 
been examined still have this thread, or well-marked im- 
pressions of it, and on some others thimbles have been 
found. It may be mentioned that in widely-distant parts 
of Africa embalmers paid particular attention to the 
preservation of the nails. 

The mummy of the Pharaoh Aahmosis I (Fig. 7) has a 
hard carapace of resinous paste, the paste being smeared 
so lavishly that the hair of the head is thickly matted, and 
the embalming-wound in the left flank, through which the 
viscera were removed, is not exposed for examination. 
This mummy is of especial interest for the unusual manner 
in which the brain was removed. Herodotus tells us that 
the operation was performed through the nose with an iron 
probe, and many mummies have been found in which this 
method was evidently used. Greenhill, in his History of 
Embalming, 1705, p. 249, speaks of such a method as a thing 
‘impracticable and amusing.”’ Although tempted to agree 
with Greenhill, Pettigrew! came to the conclusion after 
examining a number of specimens, that such an operation 
had been performed. A large series of mummies examined 
in the Cairo School of Medicine in 1904 affords clear evidence 


1 History of Egyptian Mummies, 1834, pp. 44-6 and 53. 
88 


Yo 


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Wn 
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4 
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FIG. 30.—QUEEN NOZME. (XxXISt DYNASTY) 





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FIG, 31.—"DIAGRAMS SHOWING THE PROCESS Of ‘' PACKING”’ IN VOGUE IN THE 
XXIst DYNASTY 


Y A 


— % 

ee —— 
Z 7 
beige eee? Y 
Dp ae a 





(4HaAOWAN NADA SVH NIMS YALNO AHI) 


“IVINALVA DONIMOVd AHL ONIMOHS ‘ALSVNAC JSIXX HHL AO AWWOAW V AO WAUV—ZE ‘DIA 








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FIG. 33.—-HEAD OF THE MUMMY OF QUEEN HENTTAUI 
(XXIst DYNASTY) 


Showing the wig and artificial ‘‘ packing” of the face 








ra 


a Pr 

Al 
bs a | 9 
is a 





: 
: 
of es 


“Se ae 
hy tae 





pot 





XVIlItH TO XXtH DYNASTIES 


of the way in which the feat was performed.1. An instrument 
was forced up the nostril and driven right through the 
ethmoid bone. Through this forced entrance into the 
cranial cavity the brain was removed piecemeal, probably 
by some small ladle-like instrument. In most cases the 
whole of the brain was removed, but in some mummies 
fragments of the brain or its membranes remained in the 
skull. The empty cavity was then packed with strips of 
linen soaked in resin. Such was the usual method, but 
in the mummy of Aahmosis, a different procedure had been 
resorted to. There is no distortion of the nose such as usually 
results from this operation, nor is the nasal septum damaged 
or in any way deflected. As the cranial cavity was tightly 
packed with linen right down to the foramen magnum, it 
seems incredible that this could have been accomplished 
through the nasal fossee without damage to the septum. 
Moreover, there is the curious and significant fact that the 
atlas vertebra is missing, and the upper surface of the 
axis and the neighbouring part of the occipital bone are 
thickly coated with resin, which must have been applied 
directly to the surface of the bones. This raises the possi- 
bility that through an incision on the left side of the neck 
the atlas vertebra was excised and the brain extracted 
through the foramen magnum, the cavity being packed 
through the same opening with resin-smeared linen, which 
has in its passage coated the axis and occipital bone. Such 
an operation would be one of great difficulty, and in spite 
of its apparent improbability, we are forced to accept it on 
the evidence adduced. In no other known instance in 
Egypt has this method of procedure been followed, and it 


1 A technical description will be found in Mém. Inst. Egyptien, t. v, pp. 15 ff. 
(1906). In the mummy of the boy found in the Tomb of Amenophis II (see 
below, p. 93) the perforation is made not in the ethmoid, but in the sphenoid bone. 


89 M 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


would seem to indicate that it was an experimental begin- 
ning to what afterwards became general—the removal of 
the brain and the substitution of resinous material for it 
in the brain-case. 

The arms are fully extended with the hands turned 
inwards at the sides of the thighs. 

To about the same period belong several of the female 
mummies found at Deir-el-Bahari. The best preserved and 
most interesting is that of the lady Ray, who was nurse of 
Queen Nefretari, the consort of Aahmosis I. This mummy 
is one of the least unlovely of the series, and the lady in 
life must have been a graceful and delicate woman, with 
fine features and well-proportioned limbs. She still has 
abundant hair, arranged in small plaits, which are divided 
into two thick masses arranged on either side of the face, 
a form of hairdressing well known from the statues of the 
period (Figs. 8 and 9). 

The whole body is sprinkled with a mixture of powdered 
resin and sand, and has the arms extended with the palms 
resting on the thighs. The hands are small and delicate 
and almost childlike in appearance. The embalming-wound 
is stuffed with a plug of linen and extends from the costal 
margin to the anterior superior spine of the ilium. 

The mummy of Queen Nefretari shows that she was 
old at the time of her death, and her own very scanty 
locks are supplemented by twisting amongst them wisps 
of human hair in order to conceal a bald patch at the top 
of the head. 

The mummy of Sitkamosis, daughter or sister of Aah- 
mosis I, exhibits a more primitive form of treatment. One 
is therefore inclined to believe that she died some time before 
the king and was his elder sister and not his daughter. The 
brain has not been removed, but the position of the hands 
in front of the pubes was quite exceptional at the time of 

90 


XVIlItH TO XXtH DYNASTIES 


Aahmosis, although it may have been customary before his 
mummy was prepared. 

Amongst the mummies discovered at Deir-el-Bahari was 
one, which on account of its having been found in a coffin 
bearing the name of Pinozem I of the XXIst Dynasty, was 
formerly supposed to be the mummy of that king. Maspero, 
however, formed the opinion that it was the mummy of 
Tuthmosis I on account of the facial resemblance which it 
bore to the Pharaohs Tuthmosis II and III.!_ The technique 
of mummification displayed in this specimen, as well as 
the position in which the arms are placed, indicates that the 
body was embalmed at a period earlier than that of Tuth- 
mosis II, and later than that of Aahmosis I. The mummy 
of Amenophis I is in the Cairo Museum, and has not been 
unrolled (see Fig. 45), so that the only vacant place amongst 
the kings to be filled is that of Tuthmosis I. The body is 
well preserved, although the thick plastering of resinous 
paste which was used at the beginning of the dynasty is 
not employed and the hands are placed in front of the 
pubes, both of which are signs of later rather than earlier 
date.? 

With the mummy of Tuthmosis II some new features of 
treatment are revealed. The arms are crossed upon the 
breast, a custom which remained in vogue until the extended 
attitude was revived in the XXIst Dynasty. The orifices 
of the ears are plugged with round balls of resin, which are 
in situ. Although missing from the mummy of Tuthmosis I, 
there is evidence that these plugs had been employed in 
the case of his mummy also. 

Between this mummy and that of Tuthmosis III must 


1 Struggle of the Nations, p. 242. Les Momies Royales, pp. 545, 581, 582. 
* The chronological position of this mummy in the series is fully discussed, 
and a considerable amount of detail considered, in The Royal Mummies, pp. 25-27. 


91 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


be placed the well-preserved body of an unknown man 
(Fig. 11). The body was formerly supposed to be that of 
the scribe Nebseni, because it was found in a coffin bearing 
that name. As the coffin is of XXth Dynasty date, and the 
mummy is unquestionably of early XVIIIth Dynasty date, 
the identity cannot be maintained. 

The mummy of the Pharaoh Tuthmosis III had been 
greatly maltreated by the robbers, and in restoring it the 
priests of the XXIst Dynasty had strengthened the body 
by four large splints, which were wooden oars belonging to 
the burial equipment. The treatment of the mummy is 
consistent with the period, but the hands, which were 
crossed on the breast, were clenched in the attitude of 
grasping some object, doubtless a ceremonial whip and a 
sceptre which the robbers had stolen. In this mummy a 
difference in the site of the embalming-wound is revealed, 
and the new fashion remained in vogue until the end of the 
XXth Dynasty. Instead of the vertical incision from the 
lower margin of the ribs to the anterior spine of the hip- 
bone, an oblique cut was made from near the latter point 
towards the pubes. 

The skull of this Pharaoh is very remarkable for its 
large capacity, and it is of pentagonoid form. The face is 
small, narrow and elliptical. If one restores the facial 
features of this damaged mummy, a contour strikingly like 
the Deir-el-Bahari portrait and the beautiful statue in the 
Cairo Museum ! will be obtained.? 

The mummy of Amenophis II lies in his own tomb in 
the Valley of the Kings. The arms were crossed upon the 


1 Legrain : Statues et Statuettes (Cairo Mus. Catalogue), Pl. XXX, No. 42053, 
Cairo 1906. 


* See the diagram in The Royal Mummies, p. 35. 
* A photograph of the mummy lying in its sarcophagus will be found in 
Wonders of the Past, vol. i, p. 894. 


92 


XVIUItH TO XXtH DYNASTIES 


breast, but the forearms are nearly parallel and placed 
lower down than was usual, and the fingers were not tightly 
clenched. When this king was found in his tomb in 1898, 
he was accompanied by a number of other royal mummies 
which had been deposited in his tomb in ancient times for 
safety. All had been maltreated by the robbers, and some of 
them belong to a considerably later period. The mummies of 
two women and a boy, however, are probably contemporary. 
The elder woman (Figs. 12 and 13) is middle-aged, but with 
long, brown, wavy, lustrous hair parted in the centre and 
falling down on both sides of the head on to the shoulders. 
The right arm is extended with the hand resting on the 
thigh, but the left hand is tightly clenched, the forearm being 
bent at the elbow so that the hand is placed just over the 
top of the breast-bone. As was customary in mummies of 
this period of both sexes, the perineum is covered with a 
thick cake of resinous paste. The mummy of the boy is 
of great interest. The hair has been shaved from the 
greater part of the scalp, but on the right side of the head 
it is left uncut, and forms a long, wavy, lustrous tress, and 
from its waviness we may infer that it was originally plaited 
(Fig. 16). This is the well-known ‘“ Horus-lock,” worn by 
young princes in honour of the god, and which is often 
represented in statues and bas-reliefs. It may also be noted 
that this boy, who is about eleven years of age, is not cir- 
cumcised, although circumcision was regularly practised in 
Egypt? and all the male mummies from the earliest times 
afford evidence of the custom. The hands are placed in 
front of the pubes, the right hand with extended fingers, 
the left hand being clenched. This position of the arms, 
like that of the next mummy to be mentioned, is a reversion 


1 See Capart: Une Rue de Tombeauz, Pl. LXVI, where the ceremony is being 
performed. 


93 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


to the custom which prevailed before the time of Tuthmosis 
II. The large aperture in the chest is the work of the 
tomb-robbers. 

The younger woman from the same tomb (Figs. 14 and 15) 
was formerly believed to be that of a man, because the head 
was closely shaven, but the anatomical evidence of sex is 
quite certain. It was possible to ascertain from this mummy 
that the diaphragm had not been removed, but had been 
perforated to allow the lungs to be extracted, the heart 
being left intact.1 

The mummy of Tuthmosis IV is that of a young, ex- 
tremely emaciated man, with a long, oval, effeminate face 
(Fig. 17). The body is well preserved and has the arms 
crossed on the breast. The condition of the mummy raises 
many interesting anatomical problems bearing on the 
evidence of ossification in the determination of age.? 

The mummy of Amenophis III was smashed to pieces 
by the plunderers, a fact which is particularly regrettable 
because there are evidences of quite a special procedure in 
embalming. In spite of its shattered condition, it is still 
possible to observe that the embalmers had taken great 
pains to restore to the shrunken body something of the 
form and plumpness it possessed during life. This was 
accomplished by stuffing under the skin of the legs, arms 
and neck a mass of resinous material, which was moulded 
into form, so that, when dry, the skin set firmly upon a 
stony-hard mould. This procedure foreshadows a method 
which became customary and developed as a fine art in the 
XXIst Dynasty (see Chapter VII), but is the only known 
instance of it before that time. It may be noted that, from 


1 The significance of the heart will be referred to later. (See pp. 145.) 
* Fully dealt with in The Royal Mummies, pp. 44-45. This mummy is the 
only one so far that has been examined with X-rays. 


94 


XVIlItH TO XXtH DYNASTIES 


the condition of the teeth, it is evident that the king must 
have suffered acutely from toothache, as there were extensive 
alveolar abscesses. 

Amenophis IV, afterwards called Akhenaten, the great 
religious reformer, and the founder of the City of Akhetaten 
(the modern Tell-el-Amarna), was the most interesting king 
that ever occupied the throne of Egypt. The peculiar shape 
of his head and body as represented by contemporary 
artists would have made his mummy one of particular 
interest and importance for examination. The irony of 
events has denied us the possibility of making such an 
examination, for after his death at his new city of Akhetaten, 
his body was moved to Thebes and placed in a tomb which 
was thought to be that of his mother, Queen Tiyi.} Owing 
to a defect of the rock in which the tomb had been hewn, 
water had penetrated, and caused the coffin to rot and col- 
lapse upon the body within it, doing irreparable damage. It 
may be mentioned in passing that this coffin, when complete, 
must have been one of the finest ever made in Egypt; it is 
incrusted with enamel and coloured stones, and was a work 
of rare beauty. Its shattered fragments have been removed 
to the Cairo Museum and an attempt has been made to 
restore it. The mummy had not been plundered, but was 
found in its original wrappings, encircled by bands of gold.? 
As in the case of the mummy of Tuthmosis IV, the anatomical 
evidence of age is of the greatest importance, and the tech- 
nical evidence on this point has been fully dealt with else- 
where. 

If Akhenaten had been a normal individual the condition 


* An account of the discovery and of the objects found in the tomb will 
be found in The Tomb of Queen Tiyi (Theodore M. Davis’ excavations, London 
1910). 

* See Journal of Eg. Arch., vol. 8, pp. 198 ff. 

8 The Royal Mummies, pp. 52-3. 


95 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


of his skeleton would have forced us to the conclusion that 
his age at the time of death was probably about twenty-five 
or twenty-six years, with just a possibility that he might 
have been as old as thirty years. It is difficult to bring 
such an estimate into strict conformity with the known 
historical facts,! although perhaps not altogether impossible. 
The peculiar configuration of Akhenaten’s body, as depicted 
in his statues and bas-reliefs, suggests the possibility that 
he may have suffered from a rare affection, one of the effects 
of which is to delay the consolidation of the bones; so that 
the condition of the skeleton found in the normal individual 
at twenty-five years might be retained as much as ten years 
longer. The slight degree of hydrocephalus revealed in the 
actual skull lends some support to this suggestion. In 
addition it helps to explain the peculiar traits of face and 
head in the contemporary portraits of Akhenaten. 

The true solution of the problem, however, is fraught 
with difficulties, some of which could be eliminated by a 
thorough examination of his bones, which circumstances 
made it impossible to carry out when one of us was preparing 
his report upon them in 1907. While there is no doubt that 
the peculiar form of Akhenaten’s skull was due in the main 
to pathological causes, the configuration of the heads of 
his daughters (as revealed in their portrait statues) is sus- 
ceptible of another explanation.? Either they were not true 
to nature (in which case they may have been grossly exag- 
gerated expressions of the form in which Akhenaten’s 
infirmities were conventionally portrayed), or the children’s 
heads had been subjected during their infancy to the kind 


1 Kurt Sethe: Beitrdge zur Geschichte Amenophis IV, Nachrichten d. K. 
Gesellsch d. Wissensch zu Géttingen, Phil. Hist. K]l., 1921. 

2 G. Elliot Smith : Tutankhamen, 1923, p. 83. 

3 See especially the fine coloured drawing of these princesses in the Journal 
of Egyptian Archeology, vol. vii, Pl. I. 


96 


<S 


‘ ~ 


es, 


Lat 





XXISt DYNASTY) 


( 


g the protective disks over the eyes 


MUMMY GF PRINCESS NESIKHONS, 


34. 


FIG. 


Showin 





e\ 


a \ 





STY) 


vNA 


(XXIst DY 


BASHER., 


NE 


NESITA 


MUMMY OF PRINCESS 


wd 
IIs 


FIG, 


of the face and neck 


” 


o 
5 


s and “ packin 


1e artificial eye 


Showing tl 








FIG. 





[BALMING-WOUND OF A XXISt DYNASTY MUMMY SEWN 
UP WITH STRING 





rep 
re 


a 
¢ ° 
f fin 


b § WELAY 4, 


ty 





FIG. 37.—MUMMY OF AN OLD WOMAN OF THE 
XXIst DYNASTY 
Showing the patches of gazelle-skin fixed by 
the embalmers to cover bed-sores 





XVIIITH TO XXtH DYNASTIES 


of artificial deformation that is said to have been practised 
in Asia Minor even in times as early as Akhenaten’s reign. 

This question cannot be decided until we recover the 
mummy of Tutankhamen’s queen, or of one of her sisters. 

A remarkable discovery made in the Valley of the Kings 
in 1905 has provided us with the mummies of Yuaa and 
Thuiu, the parents of Queen Tiyi, Akhenaten’s wife.! (See 
Figs. 18-20.) 

The mummy of Yuaa is that of a white-haired old man, 
with thick wavy hair, now stained yellow by the embalming 
materials (Fig. 18). The body was embalmed in the usual 
manner of the period, and no attempt was made to pack 
it as in the case of Amenophis III. The body-cavity was 
filled with balls of coarse linen soaked in resin, which is 
now a hard solidified mass. The perineum is coated with 
resin so thickly as to conceal the genital organs; this 
method was employed in the mummies of Amenophis II 
and of three other contemporary mummies found in his 
tomb.?. The arms are crossed high on the chest, and the 
extended fingers reach nearly to the chin. As was usual in 
the XVIIIth Dynasty, the eye-sockets were packed with linen 
over the shrunken orbits, and the eye-lids pulled down 
over this packing material. The whole aspect of the face 
is one of great dignity and repose, and the mummy is 
the finest specimen we possess of the XVIIIth Dynasty— 
unless the mummy of Tutankhamen proves to excel it. 

Yuaa’s wife Thuiu was found in her husband’s tomb, 
and is another excellent example of the perfection to which 
the embalmer’s art had been brought at the end of the 


1 For an account of the discovery and of the remarkable array of objects 
found in the tomb, see Quibell, The Tomb of Yuaa and Thuiu (Cairo 1908), 
in which one of us has described the mummies. 

2 Bulletin de V Inst. Eg., 5th series, t. i, p. 224. 


97 N 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


XVIIIth Dynasty (Figs. 19, 20). The mummy presented 
some unusual features for its period. The embalming-wound 
is almost vertical and was sewn up with string, a quite 
exceptional feature at this time,tand the arms are fully 
extended with the palms on the thighs—both these details 
being a reversion to the customs of the earlier part of the 
dynasty. Some attempt seems to have been made to 
represent artificial eyes by painting the packing material 
under the eyelids. Another peculiar feature of this mummy 
is the fact that upon the feet sandals (made of mud) were 
placed. The soles are of metal, and the straps had apparently 
been gilded. Thuiu was a little old woman, very bald on 
the crown of the head, her scanty locks being wound about 
the temples. The breasts were shrunken and character- 
istically senile. 

Of the kings of the XIXth Dynasty the mummies of 
many have survived. The first king of the dynasty was 
Haremhab, and his tomb was discovered by Theodore Davis 
in 1908. In the sarcophagus were the remains of a mummy, 
but what became of it is unknown. In spite of what Mr. 
Davis has written in the volume dealing with this tomb, 
the bones were not submitted to any examination at the 
time of their discovery. The next king, Ramesses I, has 
likewise escaped us, but his son, Sety I, lies in the Cairo 
Museum. There is nothing in the mode of treatment of 
this mummy to distinguish it from that in vogue at the 
latter part of the XVIIIth Dynasty. The head is in a fine 
state of preservation (Fig. 21), and reveals to us one of the 
most perfect examples of manly dignity displayed in a 
mummy that has come down to us from ancient Egypt, 
but the body has suffered considerably at the hands of the 


1 Sewing was practised in the XXth and XXIst Dynasties (see pp. 100 
and 119). 


98 


XVIlItH TO XXtH DYNASTIES 


plunderers. The body-cavity and chest were packed with 
resin-soaked linen, and there is evidence that the heart, as 
was customary, was left in situ. 

Ramesses IT, until Tutankhamen displaced him, was the 
best-known and most famous of all the Pharaohs. He had 
a long reign (over sixty years), and was a very old man, 
perhaps a centenarian, at the time of his death. The 
temples and the back of the head are covered with fine, 
silky hair, which originally must have been quite white 
but is now yellow. The upper part of the scalp was quite 
bald, although there are still scanty hairs on the frontal 
region (Fig. 22). Amongst them are some ‘“ blackheads,” 
due to the plugging of the orifices of the sluggish sebaceous 
glands, a condition frequent in old men. The superficial 
temporal arteries are very prominent and tortuous, and their 
walls are calcareous. On the vertex, near the extremity of 
the greatly enlarged anterior branch of the right superficial 
temporal artery, there are curious markings upon the bald 
scalp. There is a well-marked white line, running in the 
mesial sagittal plane, and a fainter transverse mark, forming 
a cross-like pattern. 

Ramesses II had a low, sloping forehead and a prominent 
nose. His mummy reveals a distinct advance in the tech- 
nique of embalming; for the first time it became possible 
to preserve the skin without the dark brown or black dis- 
coloration that occurred invariably in earlier attempts at 
mummification. It is very remarkable that the teeth are 
all healthy and only slightly worn, in spite of the Pharaoh’s 
extreme old age. Nearly all the royal mummies, even those 
of young men, have well-worn teeth, and in many cases 
they suffered from severe dental caries and from alveolar 
abscesses. 

His son and successor, Meneptah, the reputed Pharaoh of 
the Exodus, is likewise an old man. The physical characters 

99 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


bear close affinity with those of Sety I and Ramesses II. 
The mummy is well preserved and is similar in technique 
to that of Ramesses II in that the general darkening of the 
skin has been avoided (Figs. 23 and 24). A curious feature of 
this mummy is the entire absence of the scrotum, but it is 
not possible to say definitely whether the castration occurred 
before or after death. It was certainly done before the 
process of embalming was completed, as the wound is smeared 
with balsam ; but if the injury was inflicted before death, 
the existence of the open wound shows that it was recent. 
The hands were placed in the position of grasping sceptres, 
and the skin of the body is thickly encrusted with salt. 
It is curious that there is a hole in the back of the skull, 
a feature also seen in the mummies of Sety II, Ramesses 
IV, V and VI. Maspero considered this to have been 
done by the embalmers in order to allow evil spirits a 
free exit from the head. It may have been done for this 
reason, but it may be the work of ancient plunderers who 
inflicted severe damage on all these mummies when, with 
an axe, the wrappings of the head were hastily chopped 
away. 

The mummy of Siptah had been badly damaged and 
the priests who restored it refixed the broken forearm in 
a splint. Siptah had “ club-foot,” a point which will be 
referred to again. (See p.157 and Fig. 65.) The body-cavity 
was stuffed with lichen instead of the usual linen filling, 
and the embalming-wound was sewn up with a strip of linen, 
a custom which was maintained until the time of Ramesses 
IV, when it was generally abandoned, but occasionally 
revived in the XXIst Dynasty. 

Siptah’s successor, Sety II, had been successfully mummi- 
fied and wrapped in great quantities of exceptionally fine 
linen of gauzy texture. The body, like most of the others, 
had been very badly treated by the ancient robbers, who 

100 


XVIilItH TO XXtH DYNASTIES 


had smashed off the arms, damaged the trunk and severed 
the head, and, when found, the right hand and forearm were 
missing. This mummy was clothed in two remarkable 
shirts, which are referred to again below, p. 142. Siptah 
was the last king of the XIXth Dynasty, and his successor, 
Setnakht, inaugurates the XXth Dynasty and was suc- 
ceeded by nine Pharaohs, all bearing the great name of 
Ramesses. 

Setnakht’s mummy has not been found, but the lid of 
his coffin, turned face-downwards, was used as an improvised 
shell for the accommodation of the mummy of an unknown 
woman, who was found with the batch of royal mummies 
in the Tomb of Amenophis II in 1898 (Fig. 26). 

On the sole of each foot there was a large mass, wrapped 
in coarse cloth, and fixed in position by bandages of the 
leg which passed around it. The parcel on the right foot 
contained a mass of epidermis mixed with large quantities 
of natron; that on the left portions of viscera with similar 
preservative material. The epidermis had been removed 
from the soles of the feet for the most part and the small 
remaining fragment had a clean-cut edge. After removing 
a series of bandages from the head, some of which had been 
wound in a circular manner and others forming a figure-of- 
eight around the head and neck, the hair was found to be 
enclosed in cloths tied like those of modern Egyptian girls. 
A piece of linen about the size of an ordinary handkerchief 
was placed upon the head and its lateral corners brought 
round to the forehead and tied in a knot. Neither the 
fingers nor the toes were wrapped separately. The arms 
were placed vertically at the sides, the hands being upon 
the lateral surfaces of the thighs. The mummy had escaped 
all damage at the hands of tomb-robbers, excepting that a 
large rounded hole had been made through the brittle anterior 
abdominal wall in the epigastrium. The second and third 

101 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


toes of the left foot were bent sharply upward ; but this had 
been done when the body was still plastic. 

The body is that of an extremely emaciated woman 
with atrophied breasts. Her hair is well preserved and has 
been made into a series of sharply rolled curls, of the variety 
distinguished by modern ladies by the name “ Empire ”’ 
(Fig. 26). She had a prominent, narrow, high-bridged, 
‘* Ramesside ” nose; but the pressure of the bandages has 
distorted the cartilaginous part and marred its beauty. 
She had a straight line of brow, and a long hanging jaw. 
The packing of the mouth has given the lips a pouting 
expression and further disturbed the natural profile of the 
face. There is a large widely gaping elliptical embalming- 
wound placed obliquely, with its long axis parallel to Pou- 
part’s ligament. It extends as far as the symphysis pubis 
below to beyond the anterior superior spine of the hip-bone 
above. A large pad of linen had been pushed against the 
perineal region—not the perineum proper, so much as the 
neighbourhood of the obturator foramina—producing large 
depressions at the inner side of each femoral neck. There 
was no sign of any writing or any inscription that might 
indicate the identity of this woman. 

The complete absence of any attempt at packing the 
limbs or trunk, and the situation of the embalming-wound, 
demonstrate that the body was mummified before the 
beginning of the XXIst Dynasty. The texture of the tissues, 
the light colour of the skin, and the absence of any of the 
discoloration that was the rule up till the time of Sety I, 
and other details of the embalmer’s technique indicate that 
this body was not mummified before the latter part of the 
XIXth Dynasty. 

The position of the arms gives us no information, for 
the conventions adopted in the case of men did not apply to 
women. At all periods the mummies of women had their 

102 


XVIUItH TO XXtH DYNASTIES 


hands alongside the thighs, although there were occasional 
exceptions to this rule (as for example the elder woman in 
Amenophis II’s tomb). The nature and situation of the 
embalming-wound varies a good deal from reign to reign. 
In this mummy it is placed alongside Poupart’s ligament, 
as was customary in the latter part of the XVIIIth Dynasty. 
But the state of preservation of the mummy puts this period 
out of the question. In the early part of the XIXth Dynasty 
it was the rule to extend the embalming-wound upwards 
into the iliac region; but at the close of that Dynasty (in 
the mummies of Siptah and Sety II) the embalmers returned 
to the late XVIIIth Dynasty convention, as in this mummy ; 
and in the XXth Dynasty (Ramesses IV and V) the early 
XIXth Dynasty (Ramesses II and Menephtah) site once 
more becomes the fashionable one. In the XXIst and 
XXIInd Dynasty the early XVIIIth Dynasty site (high or 
suprailiac incision) comes into vogue. Thus on the evidence 
of the site of the embalming-incision one might be inclined 
to put this mummy into the same group as Siptah’s and 
Sety II’s. But in the case of both of these mummies, as 
well as in that of Ramesses IV (it is not known how the wound 
was treated in Ramesses III), the incision was stitched up, 
whereas it is gaping in this woman’s mummy. However, 
two mummies of the same date (for instance, Yuaa’s and 
Thuiu’s) may be treated in different ways. Then again, 
there is the nature of stuffing material in the body-cavity— 
the use of strips of linen. Sety II had hard resin-impreg- 
nated linen, like the XVIIIth Dynasty mummies, whereas 
Siptah and Ramesses IV had dried lichen. From this it 
seems that the end of the XIXth and the commencement 
of the XXth Dynasties represent a transition period when 
experiments were being made in new forms of packing 
material. In the mummy under consideration ordinary 
linen bandages, not treated with resin, were employed. The 
103 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


fact that no attempt was made to make artificial eyes 
favours the view that the mummy was earlier than Ramesses 
IV, although this kind of evidence is not altogether conclu- 
sive, as the mummy of Ramesses V shows. On the other 
hand, the practice of stuffing the cheeks does not begin 
until the time of Siptah, so far as we are aware. 

The evidence is quite conclusive that this mummy belongs 
to the XIXth-XXth epoch, and there is a good deal to 
suggest that it was either very late XIXth or very early 
XXth. The fact that it was associated with a group of 
mummies of kings suggests that this lady was also a member 
of the royal family. It is a very suggestive fact that the 
only woman’s tomb of the X[Xth—XXth date that is known 
in the Biban-el-Molik was made for Tausret, the consort in 
succession of Siptah and Sety II, to whose times the technique 
of the mummification has led us to assign this body. 

This mummy has been described at considerable length 
in order to illustrate the indications which we must look for 
in order to date a mummy from technical evidence alone, 
when there is no inscription or other archeological clue to 
guide us. In the case of the next one, however, that of 
Ramesses III, we are on sure ground again (Fig. 27). 

As the resin-impregnated linen carapace investing this 
mummy is quite complete excepting the head portion, 
which was removed in 1886, it was deemed undesirable to 
interfere with it. Hence we have no direct information 
concerning the treatment of the body of Ramesses III; but 
the details of the embalmer’s technique were so similar in 
the late XIXth (as revealed in the mummies of Siptah and 
of Sety II) and the XXth Dynasty (as seen in Ramesses IV 
and his successors), that it is unlikely that this mummy 
would have thrown any new light upon the methods of 
mummification. It would have been of interest to learn 
whether any protecting plate was placed over the embalming- 

104 





FIG, 38.—MUMMY OF A PRIEST OF AMEN (xxIst DYNASTY) WITH THE 


CHEST WALL REMOVED TO SHOW THE HEART AND AORTA LEFT 
IN SITU 





Ist DYNASTY 


XX 


-CAVITY OF A MUMMY OF 


BODY 





39+ 


FIG. 


genil 


s of their protective 


Showing the four parcels of viscera with wax figure 





IA 


FROM NUL 


FIG. 40.—HEAD OF A PTOLEMAIC MUMMY 








FIG. 4i,—HEAD OF A PTOLEMAIC MUMMY ACCIDENTALLY SEVERED 
FROM THE BODY AND REFIXED ON A STICK AND TIED WITH BANDAGES, 





FIG, 42.—-MASS OF RESIN FROM THE THORAX OF THE MUMMY OF A YOUNG WOMAN WITH INSECTS 
EMBEDDED IN IT. (PTOLEMAIC PERIOD) 





XVIIItH TO XXtTH DYNASTIES 


wound ; and if so, whether it was of the oblong form (with 
the symbolic eye engraved upon it) as in the XXIst Dynasty, 
or the plain leaf-like form used in the XVIIIth Dynasty. 
The use of X-rays would settle matters for this as for many 
other mummies. There are, however, several features that 
may be regarded as innovations. The hands, for instance, 
are not flexed as in the mummies of the late XVIIIth and 
XIXth Dynasties, but are fully extended with the palms 
resting upon the shoulders. As the full extension of both 
hands, in association with flexed elbows, occurs also in the 
mummies of Ramesses [Vth Vth and (probably) VIth, but 
in no other mummies, it can be regarded as a distinctive 
feature of XXth Dynasty mummification, which passed out 
of use before the commencement of the XXIst Dynasty, 
for the “* Leeds Mummy,” which was embalmed in the reign 
of Ramesses XI, has the arms extended with the hands over 
the pubic region.1 Again, in this mummy, artificial eyes are 
employed for the first time. 

The mummy of Ramesses IV is that of an elderly man, 
probably about fifty years of age. It is well preserved and 
covered (except for the head) in a thick layer of resinous 
paste. For artificial eyes small onions were used, and they 
give a surprisingly realistic effect. This mummy, like those 
of Meneptah, Sety II, Ramesses V and Ramesses VI, has an 
irregular hole in the top of the skull, a point to which we 
have already referred. This mummy, so far as the positions 
of the embalming-wound and arms are concerned, conforms 
to the custom of the times. It presents one new feature, 
namely the plugging of the anus with a ball of resin. 

Ramesses V was a thin, emaciated man and probably 
a physical weakling. The face and the pubic region are 


1 Account of an Egyptian Mummy presented to . . . the Leeds Philosophical 
and Literary Society, by W. Osburn. Leeds, 1828. 


105 O 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


thickly studded with papular eruptions, probably small- 
pox (Fig. 28), and there is evidence that he suffered from 
inguinal hernia. He also had a large ulcer in the right 
groin. 

The most tragic instance of mutilation by tomb-robbers 
is seen in the mummy of Ramesses VI. All the royal mum- 
mies had been badly damaged by plunderers, but this one 
was literally hacked to pieces. The priests who in ancient 
times visited his plundered tomb, must have found the 
mummy scattered in fragments on the floor. They made 
up a bundle, exteriorly quite a presentable mummy, of the 
pieces and placed them in a coffin. As an instance of how 
such material has to be dealt with, we will describe it in detail. 

The shroud of fine linen, which had enveloped the whole 
body, was already pulled aside from the upper part of the 
mummy, where the underlying wrappings were in a state of 
great disorder. 

Amongst the mass of rags the broken pieces of the head 
and a woman’s right hand came to light. In removing 
the loose bundle of torn pieces of linen that were thrown 
around the chest, a distorted and mutilated right hand and 
forearm of a man were found, but they did not belong to 
this mummy. In the place where the neck of the mummy 
should have been was the separate left hip-bone (os innomi- 
natum) and the rest of the pelvis. The right elbow and the 
lower half of the humerus were found lying on the right 
thigh and the head of the left femur was alongside the 
upper end of this fragment in front of the abdomen. 

When the bandages investing the right thigh were 
removed the right forearm (hacked off at the elbow and wrist 
with axe-cuts) was found—still wrapped in its original 
bandages. Although an attempt had thus been made to 
put the arm into the position in which it was customary 
to place it at the time the rewrapping was done (i.e. vertically 

106 


XVIlItH TO XXtTH DYNASTIES 


at the sides—the XXIst Dynasty custom), it is interesting 
to note that the folds of skin around the elbow make it clear 
that the arms were originally folded over the chest, as the 
practice was in the XXth Dynasty. The left upper arm 
was torn off at the shoulder and put in its proper place. 
The rest of the arm had been chopped off at the elbow. 
On removing the first bandage, which passed spirally around 
the lower parts of the legs, a broken piece of rib was found 
lying in front of the ankles. This bandage was a tattered 
strip of fine linen 3 m. 005 mill. by 0 m. 19 cent. A second 
similar bandage passed spirally around the legs upward 
beyond the knees and a third continued the process upward 
to the hips. 

A mass of loose rags was then removed from the front of 
the knees. Then was exposed a longitudinal sheet of very 
coarse matting tied in front of the legs by irregular scraps 
of fine linen in the form of circular ligatures. When this 
was removed a series of short bandages of varied materials 
and sizes was found—but all of them old tattered scraps— 
wound spirally around the legs. Then a mass of loose rags 
was found packed around the left hand and forearm. There 
was then exposed a complicated bandage intended to fix 
the head and the other loose fragments to the legs—the 
only coherent parts of the body. A yellowish shawl was 
slung round the thighs fixing the left forearm ; it was looped 
in front and then passed obliquely downward, then under 
the feet and up as far as the right knee, where it was tied to 
a reddish-brown scarf, which passed right up around the 
fragments of the head, down the left side of the body and 
under the feet, reaching almost as far as the above-mentioned 
knot. 

When this was removed three bandages were found 
fixing the legs to the board on which the mummy was placed : 
a figure-of-eight around the ankles and feet, a circular 

107 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


bandage below the knees and another around the thighs. 
Then a peculiar sheet of lmen—-apparently the remains of a 
dress, with two armholes—was wrapped around the mummy. 
The ends of the sheet (for one third of the distance at each 
end) were torn into four strips of equal breadth: at the 
head-end the outer pair of tails were torn off and the remain- 
ing two were tied around the head. The tails at the other 
end were wrapped in figures-of-eight around the legs. Under 
these, two bandages were found—one passing in a circular 
manner around the hips and the other around the ankles. 
After removing a few loose rags the remains of the body 
were exposed. The separated anterior abdominal wall was 
turned inside out. The neck was severed from the body 
at the sixth cervical vertebra. The lower jaw and the skin 
covering it were detached from the head. The whole facial 
skeleton was broken off and lost, only the skin of the face 
remaining. There is a large gash caused by two axe-cuts 
just above the left ear and temporo-maxillary joint, and a 
second vertical cleft through the right side of the whole 
face and forehead in the mid-orbital line. There are two 
knife-cuts below the left eye. A vertical crack extends 
from the gash above the left ear to a large hole 0 m. 144 mill. 
by 0m. 09 cent. in the vertex of the skull. The left hip- 
bone was broken. All the ribs were broken in the mid- 
axillary line and the front of the chest-wall lost. 

The right scapula and the upper part of the humerus 
were smashed off (not cut) in their bandages. The elbow 
was hacked through with an axe, leaving the head of the 
radius and part of the olecranon attached to the humerus. 
The wrist was chopped through with an axe in an oblique 
direction. The right hand is missing; but the right hands 
of two other mummies were found amongst the wrappings. 
The left scapula and outer half of the clavicle are still attached 
to the body. The humerus was torn off at the shoulder 

108 


XVIlItH TO XXtH DYNASTIES 


joint and the middle of the shaft of the humerus (still in 
its wrappings) was broken across. The elbow was hacked 
through with an axe leaving the upper ends of the radius 
and ulna attached to the humerus. The left hand, fingers 
and wrist exhibit numerous axe-cuts. The cranial cavity 
had been packed with pieces of linen and resinous paste. 
The membranes of the brain were preserved. The nasal 
fossee were packed with linen as far back as the pharynx. 

Ramesses VI was apparently middle-aged—probably older 
than Ramesses V, but younger than Ramesses IV. His 
body was embalmed in the same manner as those of his 
two predecessors. No hair (excepting the eyelashes) is 
visible upon the face to the naked eye; but with a lens 
closely shaven hair of the beard and moustache can be 
detected. The part of the scalp of the forehead that is 
visible is bald ; but on the scalp elsewhere short hairs (about 
1 millimetre long) are present. The face, including the eyes 
and forehead, was thickly plastered with resinous paste. 
The ears were pierced. The teeth are only slightly worn. 

Ramesses VI is the last of the Ramesside kings whose 
bodies have been found. Perhaps the others were too much 
smashed by ancient robbers to be reparable by the restoring 
priests, perhaps they still lie hidden somewhere in the 
Valley of the Kings. All their tombs are known save one, 
and possibly this may yet be found and yield up its secret. 
(See Appendix IT.) 


109 


CHAPTER VII 
MUMMIFICATION IN THE XXIst DYNASTY 


technique of the embalmer’s art underwent the most 

curious and profound modifications. It must be 
remembered that, during the reign of the priest-king Hrihor 
and his immediate successors, great activity was displayed 
in restoring the plundered remains of the kings of the three 
preceding dynasties whose mummies we have dealt with in 
the foregoing chapter. The story of the great and daring 
robberies which were perpetrated in the Royal Necropolis 
during the XXth Dynasty is given at length in Appendix I, 
together with some account of the papyri which have pre- 
served to us the judicial proceedings taken against the 
malefactors. When the first great find of royal mummies 
was made at Deir-el-Bahari in 1881, a considerable number 
of the coffins bore hieratic inscriptions written in ink, 
recording the restoration of each respective mummy, or the 
steps taken to preserve it from desecration by removing it 
to another tomb.!_ The robbers in their search for treasure 
had hacked away the bandages and damaged the bodies, 
and the pious restorers had to set about rebandaging these 
battered remains. In the course of doing so they must 
have been struck by the failure of the embalmer’s art to 


Te XXIst Dynasty was a period in which the whole 


* Facsimiles of these hieratic graffiti with transliterations and translations 
will be found in Maspero’s Momies Royales, and translations alone in Breasted, 
Ancient Records, vol. iv. 


110 


THE XXIst DYNASTY 


preserve the life-like appearance of their predecessors. It 
seems most probable that it was the contemplation of the 
shrunken and distorted forms of many of these mummies 
that impressed on the embalmers of the XXIst Dynasty the 
imperfections of their craft. We do know, at least, that 
immediately after the striking object-lesson afforded by the 
handling of these mummies of the XVIIIth, XIXth and 
XXth Dynasties, the embalmers of the XXIst Dynasty set 
to work to devise some means of restoring to the mummy 
the fulness of limb and features that it had possessed during 
life but had lost during the process of embalming. 

There were two possible ways of restoring the shape of 
the mummy: (1) by external application of materials to 
its surface, or (2) by packing them underneath the skin. 
In other words, the embalmer had the option of building 
up the shape of the wrapped mummy or of the body itself. 
The former method had been tried in the Pyramid Age 
(see above, p. 75) and long afterwards had some vogue in 
Grzeco-Roman times. The second method had indeed been 
tried in the case of the mummy of Amenophis III, but seems 
to have been immediately abandoned until the embalmers 
of the XXIst Dynasty revived it. We know that it was 
not attempted during the time of the XIXth and XXth 
Dynasties. If the mummy of Tutankhamen is examined, 
perhaps it will provide us with decisive information as to 
whether the practice of packing mummies was one of the 
reforms associated with Aten worship and was discarded 
when the heresy was overthrown. 

Examination of mummies of the XXIst Dynasty suggests 
that the motive of the embalmers was not merely to preserve 
the body and restore its life-like form, but also to convert 
it into the portrait statue and to identify this representa- 
tion as completely as possible with the individuality of the 
deceased. Thus the restored body was painted like a statue 

111 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


and every organ that had been removed by the embalmers 
was restored to it to complete its integrity. Not only so, 
but any defects were repaired and the mummy made as 
presentable as possible. That it was the intention to 
transform it into a statue is confirmed by the fact that the 
use of portraits made of wood or stone seems to have 
fallen into abeyance at the time when this new device in 
embalming was introduced. 

This inference is not affected by the fact that in later 
times, under other circumstances, the custom of making 
statues and portraits was revived in a somewhat modified 
form. 

Happily we have abundant material upon which to 
found a study of the technical processes of this period. 
Nine royal, and over forty priestly, mummies of the 
XXIst Dynasty alone have been subjected to minute 
scientific examination and the results recorded. 

The earliest royal mummy of this period is that of 
Queen Nozme (Fig. 30), the wife of Hrihor, the first king 
of the XXIst Dynasty at Thebes. It is of peculiar interest 
to note that the first method of packing is employed in the 
case of her mummy, whilst in all her successors the second 
method was resorted to. There are certain indications that 
suggest a possible reason for the adoption of the much more 
difficult operation of stuffing the body in preference to the 
simpler procedure of padding. For many details of the 
technique of embalming that make their appearance for 
the first time in these XXIst Dynasty mummies go to prove 
what was suggested above—namely, that the idea of the 


1 See Elliot Smith: The Royal Mummies, pp. 94-111, and Mémoires de ?’ Inst. 
Egypt., t. v, 1906. Minute descriptions, with anatomical details of individual 
mummies, were also contributed to the Annales du Service, 1903, pp. 18-17; 
1906, pp. 1-28, with 9 plates, etc. 


112 





FIG. 43.—ARM OF AN EARLY CHRISTIAN BODY WITH A CROSS TIED TO IT 


” 12) Gee 
i vr 





(AISVNAG YHIX) ‘SHAD OLLSAW AHL ONIMOHS ‘ANIdWA TIAGGIN AHL AO NIXIOD Ntaoom—th O14 























(xviith DyNasTy) 


COFFIN AND MUMMY OF THE PHARAOH AMENOPHIS I 


FIG. 45. 





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FIG. 46.—‘‘ CIVIL-DRESS ”’ COFFIN 
(xxth DYNASTY) 


Now in the Berlin Museum 






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THE XXIst DYNASTY 


embalmers was to make the body not only as life-like, but 
also as complete, as possible, so that it might represent the 
deceased and take the place both of his actual remains 
and of the funerary statue which was placed in his tomb in 
earlier times. | 

The whole body was painted with red or yellow ochre 
and gum, just as the statues used to be treated ; artificial 
eyes were inserted; the cheeks and neck were filled out 
with stuffing; the forms of the trunk and limbs were 
restored ; and the viscera, which it had been customary to 
set apart in the four canopic jars, were now restored to the 
body so as to make it whole and complete. That this idea 
of making the body itself complete determined the choice 
between “external’’ and “internal” padding in favour 
of the latter, is suggested by the fact that the practice 
of replacing the viscera and inserting artificial eyes was 
already coming into vogue in the XXth Dynasty,! before 
any attempt was made to remedy the defects of its external 
form. 

The mummy of Queen Nozme, then, belongs to the 
transition period, when the embalmers were attempting to 
restore the form of the wrapped mummy. There is no trace 
of any packing within the limbs or neck, but the face is 
stuffed through the mouth, and quantities of sawdust kept 
in position with resin-soaked bandages are applied to the 
abdomen, legs, buttocks and other parts of the body. The 
embalming-wound has no definite plate to cover it, but a 
lump of wax was plugged into the orifice. The eye-brows, 
instead of being emphasised by paint, were provided with 


1 As for instance in the Mummies of Ramesses IV and V (Elliot Smith : 
Royal Mummies, pp. 87-92), and the ‘*‘ Leeds Mummy ”’ embalmed in the reign 
of Ramesses XI (W. Osburn: Account of an Egyptian Mummy presented to the 
Museum of the Leeds Literary and Philosophical Society, Leeds, 1828). 


113 Ee 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


wisps of human hair, placed longitudinally and gummed 
on. Artificial eyes were inserted under the eyelids. These 
eyes, made of black and white stone, are the earliest instance 
of an attempt to represent the pupil in artificial eyes of a 
mummy, although in statues such eyes had been in use for 
many centuries. 

The face was tightly packed with sawdust, so that the 
cheeks are filled out and the face assumes an almost circular 
shape. The body-cavity was packed through the embalming- 
wound with sawdust, but no trace of the viscera could be 
found. The hands were not placed in front of the abdomen, 
but vertically alongside the hips—a custom which became 
general in royal mummies of the XXIst Dynasty, both in 
men and women, as had been the practice at the com- 
mencement of the XVIIIth Dynasty. The mummies of 
the priests and priestesses of Amen, on the contrary, 
of the same dynasty, usually had the hands placed so 
as to conceal the pudenda.t On the wrists several bead 
bracelets were found.? 

In the mummy of Queen Makeré a much more elaborate 
technique is manifested. In spite of the damage done by 
the plunderers, it is still possible to discern that every part 
of the body had been internally packed and moulded into 
the shape of the Queen when alive, and wrapped in linen 
of marvellously fine texture. The face was painted with a 
mixture of yellow ochre and gum, which has caused the 
muslin sheet placed upon it to adhere. 

The embalmer had packed the neck with a quantity of 


* The mummy of a priestess of Amen of this period, for example, figured 
in the Annales du Service, t. iv, 1906, Pl. VII, had the hands so placed. 

* For technical description of this mummy see Royal Mummies, pp. 94-8. 

* Prof. Naville, who published the papyrus of this queen (Papyrus Funeraires 
de la XXIe Dynastie, vol. i), holds that the name should be Kamara by analogy 
with the cuneiform transcription of the prenomen of Amenophis III. 


114 


THE XXIst DYNASTY 


fat (possibly butter) mixed with soda, which had so filled 
out the skin as to give it the plump appearance of a living 
body, in great contrast to the shrunken and emaciated aspect 
of the necks of earlier mummies. This packing was inserted 
by putting the hand into the embalming-wound and passing 
it up through the thoracic region. The body-cavity was 
filled with sawdust. The embalmers separated the skin 
from the underlying muscular tissues in the anterior margin 
of the embalming-wound, and into the space thus formed 
the operator placed his hand and forced it up under the skin 
in front of the chest, filling the cavity thus formed with 
coarse linen. No attempt had been made to pack the 
breasts, but the rest of the bust was moulded upon this 
foundation of linen packing. The breasts in this mummy 
were enormously enlarged, as the Queen was lactating, and 
the mummy of her infant was buried in the same coffin 
with her.1. The Queen therefore died at or soon after 
childbirth. 

This mummy exemplifies in several particulars the 
elaborate methods of packing employed at this period, and 
it will be convenient to describe it in more general terms, 
The whole operation was one of great complexity and diffi- 
culty. Through the wound made in the left flank (Fig. 31, X) 
for the purpose of removing the viscera, the embalmer in- 
troduced his hand and arm and pushed it up through the 
body-cavity along the line Z, to stuff the neck (T) with linen, 
mud, butter, or some other material, a plug of linen then 
being inserted at W to retain the stuffing. The hand, or 
some instrument, was then introduced in turn from the 
body-cavity into each thigh (Y), and in this way stuffing 
was then pushed (U) into the whole leg as far as the ankle. 


1 Unfortunately it has not been possible to get a radiograph of this baby. 
When this has been done its age and sex can be determined. 


115 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


Sometimes additional incisions were made in the skin of the 
foot (2 and e), and, more rarely, also in the region of the 
ankle (d) and knee (c) to permit more efficient packing of 
these parts of the limb. When the neck and legs were 
packed, the preserved viscera, wrapped in linen, were 
restored to the body-cavity (Fig. 39). The skin was then 
separated from the muscles of the body-wall in both lips 
of the embalming-incision (Fig. 31, X) in the left flank, and 
packing material was introduced to restore the form of 
the bust (S), as well as the back (R and Q). Where special 
difficulties were encountered, additional incisions were made 





Foot of a Priest of Amen of the XXIst Dynasty 
to show semi-lunar incision at the heel made for 
packing the sole 

(f, gandh). The shoulders and arms were packed through 

special incisions (a) in the shoulder (Fig. 32), while the cheeks 

were packed through the mouth.? 

The mummy of Queen Henttaui (Fig. 33) was treated in 
this manner, but the embalmers had rather over-packed the 
body. An exceptionally large quantity of cheese-like material 
was packed into the mouth, and with the deliquescence of 
the salts mixed with the fat, the stretched skin of the 
cheeks had burst open on each side, from the outer angle of 
the eye downwards to the chin.? 


1 For a fuller account of the technical processes of “‘ packing ” with anato- 
mical details, see Elliot Smith: Mémoires d’ Institut Egyptien, t. v, fase. i, 
pp. 19-28. 2 Royal Mummies, Pls. LXXV and LXXVI. 


116 


THE XXIst DYNASTY 


Although the plunderers had ransacked this mummy, 
an object of great value had escaped them. Amongst the 
disordered wrappings the end of a string was found, and on 
tracing this, it was found to be attached to a magnificent 
gold plate which had covered the embalming-wound and 
had originally been tied round the waist. This plate is the 
finest example yet found, and its weight is estimated as that 
of eighty sovereigns. It is unique in having not only the 
customary magical eye, but figures of the four children of 
Horus, who guarded the viscera (see below, p. 145) with their 
names and the titles and cartouches of the Queen.! 

As in the case of most of the queens, the natural hair 
is supplemented by an artificial wig. The face was painted 
yellow, the cheeks and lips red and the eyebrows black. 
The body-cavity contained amongst the sawdust with which 
it was packed remains of the viscera which had _ been 
replaced and of the wax figures of the guardian genii placed 
there with them (see below, p. 146). The embalming-wound 
was plugged with a large mass of resinous paste, which had 
forced its lips apart, and on its outer surface was a plate of 
wax. This mummy displayed a curious treatment of the 
perineum, the only instance of its kind so far discovered. 
When the embalmers had removed the viscera, the pelvic 
cavity was cleared completely of its contents and a plug of 
linen was applied to the perineum and secured in position 
by means of a thick string, which was passed through the 
pelvis and out through the embalming-wound, down to the 
perineum again. 

In the mummy of Masahirti, who was the son of the 
priest-king Pinozem I, we have the same general treatment 
applied to the body of a man, the mummies described above 


1 Op. cit. p. 102, and P]. LX XVI, fig. 2. 
117 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


all being of women. The adhesion of the innermost bandages 
to the skin, the whole being strongly impregnated with resin, 
has formed a hard carapace, as was the case in the above 
described mummies. The tendency to over-pack the face 
is very manifest in this mummy, producing a grotesque 
orang-outan-like appearance. The face was painted with 
red ochre, red being the colour for men and yellow for women, 
on statues and wall-paintings from the earliest times. As 
was customary in male mummies of this dynasty, the whole 
body was coloured with ochre and gum-paint. The hands 
were placed in front of the pubic region, but, owing to the 
great corpulency of the body, they do not reach far enough 
to conceal the pudenda as was intended. This mummy has 
the embalming-wound in the site which was usual in the 
late XVIIIth Dynasty, namely, parallel to Poupart’s liga- 
ment, instead of in the contemporary position, high up above 
the level of the iliac spine. This exception to the rule, like 
others that have been examined, had a reason for it, which 
in this instance was the extreme corpulence of the subject.! 

The mummy of this man’s mother, Queen Isiemkheb, 
was so perfect and its bandages so undisturbed that it has 
not been unrolled, but it would be interesting to obtain an 
X-ray photograph of it.2 The next royal mummy of the 
series, that of Pinozem II, conforms in every way to the 
custom of his time, the body-cavity being packed with 
sawdust and with linen parcels contained the separately 
embalmed viscera.® 

In the mummies of the princesses Nesikhons (Fig. 84) 
and Nesitanebasher (Fig. 85) we come to two of the finest 
specimens of the embalmer’s art in the XXIst Dynasty. 
The packing and moulding of the limbs and trunk have been 


1 Royal Mummies, p. 106 and Pl. LXXIX. 
* Op en. Plo Lexx 3 Op. cit. p. 107, Pl. LXXXI. 


118 


THE XXIst DYNASTY 


most skilfully accomplished, and the fault of over-packing 
and distending the face has not been repeated. In spite 
of the skill the craftsmen had acquired in the very difficult 
operation of packing, it is curious that they did not make 
any attempt to model the bust, for the breasts are flattened 
and pressed against the body-wall. The arms were fully 
extended, in the first case the palms were turned inwards 
on the outer surface of the thighs, in the second were placed 
upon the front of the thighs. 

In the large series of mummies (forty-four) of priests 
and priestesses of Amen of this dynasty, which were exam- 
ined in 1904, many interesting features were found, which 
show the great skill of the embalmers of the period. For 
instance, they made a successful mummy of a man with 
the extreme deformation of the spine which results from 
Pott’s disease.t In another case the embalming-wound, 
instead of being left gaping, as was the usual custom, was 
neatly sewed up with string (Fig. 36). In the case of an 
extremely emaciated old woman, whose general condition 
indicated that she had long been bedridden, a curious state 
of affairs was revealed. Large open ante-mortem wounds, 
probably bed-sores, were found on the back between the 
shoulders and upon the buttocks. These had been made 
use of for the purpose of packing the back, and then neatly 
patched with square pieces of thin leather, perhaps gazelle- 
skin. These patches were sewn on to the healthy skin 
beyond the affected region, and the sutures concealed by 
strips of linen smeared with resin. A large abscess in the 
perineal area had been closed and sewn up with string, and 
an ulcer on one of the legs had been covered up by a patch 
of resin-soaked linen (Fig. 37). 


1 Published by Elliot Smith and Ruffer in Part III of Zur historischen 
Biologie der Krankheitserreger, 1910, and see, below, p. 156. 


119 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


The heart was always carefully left in situ (except when 
accidentally severed by unskilful manipulation) attached to 
its great blood-vessels (Fig. 38), and the other viscera were 
wrapped into four separate parcels, each with a wax figure 
of its appropriate guardian genius, and returned to the 
body-cavity (Fig. 89). The viscera will be more fully dealt 
with in Chapter CX under the heading of Canopic Jars. 

It has been stated above that it was the custom in the 
XXIst Dynasty to paint the body red. In a few cases the 
body was not so painted, but a red linen shroud was applied 
to the mummy in such cases. In course of time it became 
usual to dye the outer shroud red, and in Ptolemaic times the 
cartonnage decorations were sewn on to this red background. 
(See Frontispiece.) 


120 


pes Wr ie 


7 


= 
- 
= 
a 
= 
fe 
a 
- 
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FIG, 


47-—A_ RISHI-COFFIN DIS- 
COVERED AT THEBES BY 
THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM 
EXPEDITION OF NEW YORK 





FIG, 48,.—PTOLEMAIC MUMMY IN CARTONNAGE CASING 





suvVf OIGONVO AO Las V—"6F ‘DIa 








R 


i 
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\ 
NY 


Fs 





FIG. 50.—MUMMY OF THE XxXIst DYNASTY WITH SS LEE 


VISCERA WRAPPED IN LINEN PARCELS AND REPLACED 
IN THE BODY 





oe Se eee 











RY Gy 

iN G Sah iS SoB's , 
ay ' J tn \\ itis. ra 

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FIG. 51.—LIVER FROM A XXISt DYNASTY FIG. 52.—LUNG FROM A XXIst DYNASTY MUMMY, 
MUMMY, WITH HUMAN-HEADED WAX FIGURE WITH THE APE-HEADED WAX FIGURE 


ia 


ee a ed 


- - 


: 
| 





CHAPTER VIII 


MUMMIFICATION FROM THE XXIInp 
DYNASTY TO THE DECLINE 


embalming described in the last chapter were main- 

tained throughout the XXIInd Dynasty, but there- 
after the art rapidly declined. The embalmers of the XXIst 
Dynasty aimed at making the body as perfect and as com- 
plete as possible, but as time went on less and less atten- 
tion was paid to the body and more and more to the external 
wrappings. In other words, so long as the mummy displayed 
a presentable exterior it seemed to matter little to the 
embalmer how careless and slipshod was his work upon the 
corpse concealed beneath the carefully wrought external 
coverings. 

Although the great museums of the world contain many 
mummies of the later periods, for the most part they are 
merely curios devoid of any scientific interest, as few of 
them have been unrolled or even photographed by X-rays. 
Our information from Egypt itself is so meagre, that for 
later periods we have to rely very largely upon the data 
afforded by the examination of a very large series of 
mummies from Nubia, discovered and examined during 
the archeological survey of that country. 


T= curious innovations in the technical processes of 


1 See the Bulletins and Reports of the Archeological Survey of Nubia, 
particularly vol. ii of the Report for the season 1907-8. This volume deals 
exhaustively with the human remains. 


121 Q 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


In the Cairo Museum is a good specimen of the mummy 
of a man who was embalmed during the reign of Sheshonk I, 
and which was found with the Royal Mummies at Dier-el- 
Bahari in 1881.1. The general style of mummification con- 
forms to the customs of the XXIst Dynasty. The hands 
are extended in front of the pubis, the body-cavity is packed 
with dried lichen (Parmelia furfuracea) and the viscera, 
wrapped in linen parcels, are replaced in the body. The 
practice of stuffing has been carried out, but very imper- 
fectly, and no attempt has been made to pack some parts 
of the body, and we can see the beginning of the decline, 
which soon led to the entire abandonment of the packing 
process. The finger-nails were fixed on to the digits with 
rings of gold wire. On the left arm of this mummy some 
interesting amulets were found. The brain was removed 
through the right nostril. 

We know of no accurate descriptions of any mummies 
between this period and the Persian occupation of Egypt, 
nor have we had facilities for examining any specimens. 
Two mummies of the Persian period were examined by the 
late Sir Armand Ruffer. In his report? no archeological 
details are given, nor is it stated where the mummies were 
found, but they exhibit a striking deterioration in technique. 
A piece of stick had been thrust up the body through the 
perineum by the embalmer to consolidate the carelessly 
made mummy. ‘The body had been emptied of its contents 
through the usual embalming-wound, but the cavity was 
not packed tightly, only a few pieces of linen having been 
put in. The embalming-wound was closed with a plug of 


1 This is Maspero’s ‘“ Zodphtahef6nkh” or ‘* Zadptahefonkhou,” Momies 
Royales, p. 572; Guide du Visiteur, fourth ed., p. 401. Elliot Smith: The Royal 
Mummies, pp. 112-114, and Pls. LX XXIX-XCII. 

2 Bulletin de la Soc. Arch. d’ Alexandrie, No. 14, 1912. 


122 


XXIInp DYNASTY TO THE DECLINE 


linen. The brain had been removed through a perforation 
in the ethmoid bone, and parts of the membranes remained 
in the skull, but no artificial filling had been introduced. 
The face showed a condition similar to facial paralysis, but 
it cannot be said with certainty whether this is a pathological 
condition or merely a distortion due to careless embalming. 
The other mummy was in even worse condition. It was, 
when wrapped up, of the usual mummy shape, but on un- 
rolling it, it turned out to be practically nothing more than 
a skull and the leg bones, the body being made up of a kind 
of crate of palm-fibres into which the bones of the rest of 
the skeleton had been flung higgledy-piggledy. 

For the Ptolemaic period we have an abundance of 
material from Nubia.t' The conclusions to be drawn from 
this mass of data are in general agreement with what we 
know of embalming practices in Egypt itself, where the 
Ptolemaic period is especially distinguished by the extra- 
ordinary elaboration of the geometrical patterns made in 
applying the superficial bandages to the mummy, and by 
the perfection of the cartonnage decorations which were 
placed upon the mummies. At this period less and less 
attention was being paid to the care of the body itself. 
Whilst there are some specimens from Nubia which show 
great care and attention on behalf of the embalmer (see 
Fig. 40), the great majority of them are makeshifts of the 
most careless description. 

The mummies of the Ptolemaic period are uniformally 
dark in colour, their surface is hard and often shining from 
the abundance of resinous matter or bitumen employed. 
This was usually applied direct to the skin, and has permeated 
the lowest layers of bandage which become corroded and 


1 Report on the Human Remains, pp. 194 ff. 
123 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


solidified. As in mummies of earlier periods, the epidermis 
is nearly always absent owing to maceration, and the same 
methods as of old are employed to affix the nails. The 
shed epidermis was often collected and wrapped in a linen 
package, and placed inside the body-cavity or upon the 
perineum. In a few cases the viscera were wrapped up and 
returned to the body, as was the custom in Egypt in the 
XXIst Dynasty. The hair, if not matted in resinous 
material, was usually intact, and in the case of women 
long and flowing. The eyes and mouth were seldom closed. 
Linen, or mud-filling, was generally employed for packing 
these cavities, though resin and wax are occasionally found. 
In one case the mouth of a woman was completely filled 
with one of her own lumbar vertebre wrapped in linen. 
The nostrils were usually plugged with resin or wax, and in 
some cases the orbits were stuffed with linen or mud in 
front of the shrunken eyes. 

In most cases the brain was removed by the usual 
passage forced through the ethmoid bone. In such cases 
the skull is either left empty or filled with resin. In a good 
number of cases no attempt had been made to remove the 
brain. The resinous material nearly always lay at the back 
of the skull and was not nearly sufficient in quantity to 
fill the whole cavity. As there is no trace of resin in the nose, 
it must have been poured through a funnel in a molten 
condition, as the body lay on its back. In some cases the 
head had been completely separated from the trunk, pre- 
sumably as the result of decomposition due to faulty treat- 
ment, and refixed by passing a stick through the body into 
the foramen magnum (see Fig. 41). In such cases the 
resinous matter lay in the vertex, and must have been poured 
in through the foramen when the skull was detached and 
inverted ; as no perforation had been made in the ethmoid 
bone. 

124 


XXIINpD DYNASTY TO THE DECLINE 


With regard to the body-cavity, a relatively small number 
of bodies, and those mostly of children, had no incision, 
and the viscera remained in situ. In one case, although 
there was no embalming-wound, the whole of the viscera 
had been removed ; this could only have been done through 
the anus, and corresponds to the “second method” of 
Herodotus (see p. 58), although the brain had been removed 
by the nasal route which characterises his ‘‘ most expensive 
method.”’ Where the viscera had been removed, some varia- 
tion in treatment may be observed. In some cases the 
thorax was intact and the diaphragm uninjured ; in other 
cases the diaphragm had been perforated or completely 
excised and the whole of the chest and abdomen emptied. 
The heart was generally left in situ, except when careless 
manipulation had dragged it out along with the other 
thoracic viscera. As already mentioned, the viscera were 
sometimes made into packages and put into the body-cavity, 
but in so doing no care was taken to replace them in their 
correct anatomical position. The parcels are often packed 
in without any regard to order, which is quite arbitrary 
and varies in almost every case. When the viscera were not 
returned to the body, the cavity was usually filled with balls 
of resin-soaked linen, but occasionally mud, broken pottery 
and all kinds of household refuse were used for the purpose. 
In other cases the whole cavity was filled with molten 
resin or bitumen, which has permeated every tissue and has 
even found its way into the structure of the bones. 

It may be observed that there is abundant evidence that 
some of the bodies were in an advanced stage of decompo- 
sition when treated by the embalmers, and this condition in 
nearly every case applied to women. This may lend some 


i Other technical details concerning the measures taken for plugging the 
natural orifices will be found in the Report of the Archeological Survey of Nubia. 


125 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


support to the statement of Herodotus concerning tendencies 
towards necrophilia. In Euterpe, Bk. II, ec. lxxxix, Herodotus 
says: “ But the wives of considerable persons, when they 
die, they do not immediately deliver to be embalmed, nor 
such women as are very beautiful and of celebrity, but when 
they have been dead three or four days they deliver them to 
the embalmers ; and they do this for the following reason, 
that the embalmers may not abuse the bodies of such women ; 
for they say that one man was detected in abusing a body 
that was fresh, and that a fellow-workman informed against 
him.” + It is very evident that, by the time the embalmers 
came to pour the molten bitumen into the body, it was 
already the host of a vast number of maggots and beetles. 
These insects are seen very commonly, caught in the invading 
stream of bitumen, and killed and preserved as they were 
engaged in the process of devouring the body (see Fig. 42). 
In addition to the invasion of insects and the partial 
decomposition of the body,.there must have been some 
period in the process of embalming at which some of the 
bodies became so decomposed as partly to disintegrate. 
The evidence for this statement lies in the finding of a great 
number of mummies, parts of which are in a state of such 
utter confusion that it is clear that the body must have 
fallen to pieces during the process of embalming. This 
state of affairs must not be confounded with the rewrapping 
and restoring of bodies plundered by robbers, as was the case, 
for instance, in the mummy of Ramesses VI (see above, p. 106). 
It is clearly due to grossly careless manipulation. In the 
ease of one of the Nubian mummies, the cartonnage and 
outer wrappings were quite undisturbed, but the perished 
parts of the body had been made good by stuffing in bits of 


1 Carey’s translation, ed. Bohn, 1872, p. 127. 
126 


XXIIND DYNASTY TO THE DECLINE 


broken pottery. In another case, where the outer wrappings 
were very carefully applied, the “ body ”’ was a collection 
of bones made up of parts of no less than three individuals. 
The mummy, exteriorly, was that of a child, but when opened 
it was found to have the skull of an adult woman, an artificial 
neck, some of the lumbar vertebree, a complete set of ribs, 
but only one side of the pelvis. There was a female femur 
and tibia but articulated to the fibula of a large muscular 
man. The other leg had a male femur, put upside down, 
but articulated to it was another male fibula from a different 
skeleton. A number of similar cases were found and are 
described in the Nubian report already cited (pp. 213-215).2 
Several mummies had false hands, their own hands having 
decomposed, and the carpal bones having been thrown 
into the body-cavity. Many of these ‘‘ faked’ mummies 
were strengthened by sticks, or the mid-ribs of palm leaves. 
In several cases the stick carried all the weight and was 
thrust through the perineum upwards, and, projecting through 
the neck, transfixed the skull by the foramen magnum. In 
one case the head was affixed to the trunk and the supporting 
stick by an elaborate lacing of bandages passing through 
the angles of the mouth and over the ears. (Fig. 41.) ? 

In the Roman period mummification still further deterior- 
ated. The bodies so far examined seem to prove that they 
were simply treated with hot bitumen, or a mixture of resin 
and pitch. They are so thickly coated with this material 
that it is impossible to say whether evisceration or the 
removal of the brain was practised. The embalmer’s sole 
object seems to have been a summary treatment of the 
body to prevent decay in order to leave him free to develop 
the greater elaboration of the external wrappings, which 


1 Several ‘‘ false mummies ” were found at Dier-el-Bahari in 1881. 
2 See additional note, p. 132. 


127 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


reaches its greatest development in the Roman period when 
the external mummy was lavishly bedecked and a painted 
portrait of the deceased affixed to the head. Coffins and 
wrappings are separately dealt with in a later chapter, so 
no further reference will be made to them here.1 

Among the collection of mummies sent by the late 
Sir Gaston Maspero to the Cairo School of Medicine in 1904 
were the remains of two young women that call for special 
notice. One of them was a mummy, possibly of late Ptole- 
maic or early Roman date, to the surface of which large 
masses of bandages and resinous paste had been applied 
and moulded into a form recalling the best of the statuettes 
of Aphrodite found in Egypt. The modelling was carried 
out with great skill. A statue of stony hardness had been 
successfully shaped out of such unpromising materials as 
linen and resin applied to the mummified body of a young 
woman, which had been idealised and transformed into 
a model of pleasing aspect and grace. On the skilfully 
modelled breasts the nipples were represented by buttons 
of copper, and another disc of the same metal was fixed in 
the depression of the navel. So far as we are aware this 
mummy is unique. But it gives expression to the agelong 
aim of the embalmer, to preserve the life-like form of the 
dead. 

The other body that deserves special notice revealed no 
certain evidence of embalming and nothing (apart from its 
linen shroud and wrappings) to indicate its age. No record 
had been preserved in the Cairo Museum of Antiquities as 
to its provenance. But the character of the linen and the 
absence of evidence distinctive of the earlier or later periods 
suggest that the young women, whose tragic story is revealed 


1 See Petrie: Hawara, Biahmu and Arsinée, ch. iii. 
128 


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FIG. 55.—MUMMY OF A PRIEST OF AMEN. (XXIst DYNASTY) 


Showing the amulets tied round the neck 








FIG. 56.—ARM FROM MUMMY 


Showing the amulets tied on with string 





VHS 
124 





FIG. 57.—ARM AND PART OF THE BODY OF A MUMMY 


Showing amulets and the plate covering the embalming-wound 








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XXIIND DYNASTY TO THE DECLINE 


by the bones within the shroud, lived during the years 
immediately before the Persian conquest of Egypt. 

After one of us had unwrapped all the mummies 
sent to the Cairo Medical School in 1904, excepting one of 
mean appearance that seemed to lack any particular interest, 
the late Sir Alexander Simpson, who had then recently 
retired from the Professorship in Midwifery in the University 
of Edinburgh, visited the Cairo School and expressed the 
desire to see the unwrapping of a mummy. While the only 
unwrapped mummy in the collection was being prepared, 
Sir Alexander was informed, in answer to his enquiries, that 
no case of pregnancy had ever been found in a mummy 
because the embalmer removed all the viscera excepting 
the heart and the kidneys. Yet by a very remarkable 
coincidence the body actually being unwrapped when this 
conversation took place proved to be that of a young woman 
of sixteen years of age in the sixth month of pregnancy. 
There was, however, no certain evidence of mummification, 
as nothing but the bones were found within the wrappings. 
Immediately before her death this girl had had both her 
forearms broken and had been killed by a blow on the head 
which had fractured her skull. Perhaps in these facts we 
have the record of an incident for which many parallels 
might be found in modern Egypt. For it is no uncommon 
occurrence when the relatives discover that a girl has com- 
mitted an indiscretion—the results of which in the case 
we are considering became apparent at the sixth month 
of pregnancy—to set on her with sticks and kill her. From 
the injuries revealed in her bones it is clear that she put 
up one hand after the other to fend the blow and had both 
her wrists broken in turn. Then, when she was writhing 
upon the ground in her agony, she received the fatal blow 
upon her head. The body was probably prepared for burial 
in summary fashion, without the care that would have been 

129 R 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


bestowed upon her remains if she had not been disgraced. 
The body was neither eviscerated nor really embalmed. 
Mummification lingered on in some parts of Egypt and 
Nubia long after the introduction of Christianity, but after 
it had been abandoned as such, measures were still taken for 
the preservation of the body. The Christian cemeteries in 
Nubia have supplied us with ample material jfor the study 
of the subject.1_ The body was not placed in a coffin of any 
kind, but often it was laid upon a board, which was roughly 
shaped to fit it. In one case a stout rope was found tied 
about the middle of a body passing under the board by which 
it had evidently been lowered into the grave. The change 
from Paganism to Christianity brought about a great 
difference in the treatment of the dead. There was no 
longer any necessity to make the mummy into a simulacrum 
or representative of the dead man, which had been the 
object of the embalmer from the Pyramid Age to Roman 
times, and all attempts to make a presentable exterior of the 
mummy for the after-use of the dead man’s spirit or “ Ka” 
were given up, for the ideas which promoted these attempts 
were foreign to the new beliefs. Yet the careful preparation 
of the body for burial was by no means neglected, and 
deliberate attempts were made to preserve it from decay. 
Doubtless the preparation of the body as practised by these 
early Christians was inspired or influenced by the account 
of the treatment of the dead body of Christ in St. John’s 
Gospel (chap. xix), and in that of St. Luke (chap. xxiii). 
The bodies discovered were superficially similar to mum- 
mies of older periods, that is to say they were wrapped in 
linen sheets with transverse tapes or bandages to hold the 
shroud in position. Within the winding-sheet the body was 


1 Arch. Survey, Nubia, Report on the Human Remains, pp. 215-220. 
130 


XXIIND DYNASTY TO THE DECLINE 


found usually dressed in clothes, which were generally 
well made and often very beautifully embroidered. The 
women usually wore a long white garment like a modern 
night-dress, and the men a short shirt or tunic and drawers, 
the latter being tied round the waist and ankles by draw- 
strings. Many of the women and children had bead neck- 
laces, but no jewellery was found on the men except a cross 
of wood or iron hung about the neck or attached to the arm 
(Fig. 43). Some of the bodies wore boots of goat skin, 
with the fur turned inwards, the outer surface of the leather 
being tanned and polished and sometimes embroidered with 
a cross. The body itself was usually in an excellent state 
of preservation, so that every detail of its gross anatomy, 
both external and internal, could be studied. The method 
of preservation used by these people did not involve opening 
the body and removing its contents, but was accomplished 
by spreading around the body large quantities of common 
salt and certain vegetable substances. These latter were 
evidently the “spices’’ of the Christian embalmer. Salt 
was lavishly used and appears as large, hollow, pyramidal 
crystals ; it was distributed all round the body within the 
clothes and winding-sheet. 

The effect of this treatment has been to preserve the 
skin entire, and to render it soft and pliable. The hands 
were placed at the sides of the body, or over the pubes; 
in the case of women they seem to have been deliberately 
arranged to conceal the pudenda. It was the custom to 
tie the big toes together in order to prevent the legs from 
falling apart, and the thumbs were often similarly tied. 
The excellent preservation of the bodies enables us to say 
definitely that the practice of circumcision had been at last 
abandoned. The internal organs are so perfectly preserved, 
that from the examination of the alimentary canal and 
rectum the nature of the food consumed can be determined. 

131 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


How long these customs were maintained it is impossible 
to state, but they certainly survived, more or less, for several 
centuries of the Christian era, and are the last phases of 
the distinctively Egyptian custom of embalming which 
held sway continuously for at least thirty centuries. 


Additional Note to p. 127. 
Herodotus, II, 90, says :— 


Should any person, whether Egyptian or stranger, no matter which, 
be found to have been seized by a crocodile, or drowned in the river, to 
whatever city the body may be carried, the inhabitants are by law com- 
pelled to have the body embalmed, and having adorned it in the hand- 
somest manner, to bury it in the sacred vaults. 


Commenting upon this curious passage, Professor 
Griffith makes the following interesting remarks :—2 


The fate of most animals that were drowned was to be devoured by 
crocodiles, who, so to speak, completed the work begun by the river; 
moreover, crocodiles overpower their prey by suffocating it in the water. 
It is not improbable that some of the made-up mummies, human or 
animal, which contain only odd bones, are the remains of crocodiles? 
dinners, perhaps extracted from their stomachs, Herodotus’ statement 
- + « may be suspected of inaccuracy in details. 


* Carey’s translation, ¢d. Bohn, p. 127. 
? Zettschrift fiir dg. Sprache, t. 46 (1909), p. 184, 


132 


CHAPTER IX 
THE ACCESSORIES OF THE MUMMY 


are dealt with which have direct association with the 

mummy itself. The whole contents of an Egyptian 
tomb were intimately bound up with the funerary cult, 
but in this book it is not within our province to describe 
nor to interpret the funerary furniture as a whole, but only 
the coffins, cartonnages and wrappings in which the mummy 
was enclosed, the canopic jars which are, in a sense, coffins 
for the viscera, and the amulets which were placed actually 
on the body or enclosed in the wrappings. 

These objects are, as all are aware, themselves only a 
part of a consistent whole, but to enter into a discussion 
on the entire burial equipment would be, not merely out of 
place, but wellnigh impossible in the present state of our 
knowledge. The discoveries in the Tomb of Tutankhamen 
alone are daily bringing forward the necessity for new con- 
ceptions or a revision of old conceptions on these matters. 
Our function is merely to describe and not to interpret, 
but in the notes we have indicated the sources which must 
be tapped for fuller information. 


|: this chapter only those articles of funerary furniture 


CoFFINS AND Mummy-CasEs 


The oldest coffins, used merely as a medium to keep the 
body from contact with the earth, were large pottery dishes, 
or rude square boxes made of slabs of stone or planks of wood. 
The wooden coffin quickly became elaborated in proportion 

133 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


to the elaboration of the tomb itself. The coffin, in fact, 
became a small tomb within a tomb, and was decorated with 
architectural details reproducing those of the tomb. The 
inscriptions on the tomb wall were often duplicated on the 
inner walls of the coffin, and finally transferred entirely to 
the coffin.t The earliest wooden coffins are rare, and when 
discovered they are almost always in a fragile or decayed 
condition, and unfit for removal. Wooden coffins as old 
as the IInd Dynasty were found by Quibell at Saqqara (see 
Fig. 1). The Cairo Museum has specimens of the Vth and 
ViIth Dynasties.2 The decoration of these early coffins is a 
study by itself, and has been dealt with in many publications. 
The inscriptions comprise a long series of funerary spells 
now commonly called the Coffin Texts to distinguish them 
from the later texts which make up the Book of the Dead 
of the New Empire, and have been specially studied by 
Lacau, who has published a large series of them from 
coffins in the Cairo Museum to supplement those already 
published from other sources.? In addition to these texts, 
the coffins are adorned with a kind of frieze on which are 
depicted offerings to the dead and objects for his use in 
the next world.4| The body was laid usually on its left side 


1 Cf. “* The Tomb of Horhotpe,”’ published by Maspero: Miss. Arch., t. i, 
pp. 138 ff. 

* Lacau: Sarcophages anterieurs au Nouvel Empire, t. ii, pp. 184, 185. 
Petrie: Deshasheh, Pl. XXIX. 

* Lacau: Teves religieux, pt. i, Paris 1910 ; the same writer has published 
others in Quibell, Excavations at Saqqara in 1906-7, Cairo 1908, pp. 21-61. 
For the texts in general see Breasted’: Development of Religion and Thought, 
London 1912, pp. 278 ff., where other collections of material are indicated. 
The texts are now being studied by M. Lacau, Dr. Gardiner and Prof. Breasted 
with a view to a complete edition of them. 

* For these objects see especially Lacau: Sarcophages, and Jéquier: Les 
Frises @Objets des Sarcophages du Moyen Empire (Mem. Inst. Eg., t. xlvii, 
Cairo 1922). The plates of Lacau’s book give numerous examples, and another 
series in colour will be found in Maspero’s Trois Années de Fouilles, Cairo 1883. 
(Mem. Miss. Arch., t. i). 


134 


MUMMY CASES 


in the coffin, and opposite to its face, two mystic eyes, 
symbolising the sun and moon, were painted on the outside 
of the coffin, to protect the dead man’s head, just as they 
were traced upon many other objects for the same purpose 
(Fig. 44). These eyes, so placed on the coffin in the Middle 
Kingdom, went out of fashion in coffin decoration in later 
times, but occasionally reappeared, as for instance on the 
stone sarcophagus in which the mummy of Amenophis II 
to-day reposes in his tomb in the Valley of the Kings. The 
body was sometimes simply wrapped in bandages, but at 
least as early as the XIth Dynasty a cartonnage head- 
piece was put over the wrappings, so as to preserve 
the facial likeness of the dead man and perpetuate his 
identity (see below, p. 143). Sometimes more than one coffin 
was used, the inner coffin fitting closely within the outer. 
The inner coffin by the time of the early Middle Empire 
was often anthropoid in form, and represented the bandaged 
mummy in its cartonnage head-piece and linen shroud, 
usually with an elaborate pectoral ornament, and was a 
reduplication in wood of the actual mummy within, repeated 
in more durable materials. A good example of this arrange- 
ment can be seen in the mummy of Senebtisi, discovered at 
Lisht by the American Excavators.1_ The rectangular coffin, 
sometimes of wood and sometimes of stone, continued in 
use throughout the Middle Kingdom, with or without the 
anthropoid coffin within it.? 

In the period intermediate between the Middle and New 
Empires a new fashion was introduced. The rectangular 


* Fully described and figured in Winlock and Mace: The Tomb of Senebtisi, 
New York. 

* See Lacau: op. cit. Garstang: Burial Customs (XIIth Dynasty), London 
1907. Naville: The Eleventh Dynasty Temple of Deir-el-Bahari, pts. i-ii, London 
1907-10. A series of these coffins is to be seen in the first Egyptian Room at 
the British Museum. 


135 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


coffin was discontinued and a new form of anthropoid coffin 
took its place. In these the painted eyes were discontinued 
and the mummy was laid flat on its back. These coffins, 
called rishi-coffins, were made of wood, and represented the 
mummy with its face uncovered, and usually bedecked in 
a stiff angular head-dress, the body being entirely enfolded 
in a pair of wings (the wings of the protecting goddess Isis). 
These coffins were often covered in gold-leaf and have 
consequently been despoiled by the natives, but a number 
of interesting specimens has survived. King Seknenré of the 
XVIIth Dynasty, the earliest of the royal mummies found 
at Deir-el-Bahari, was buried in a rishi-coffin. (Daressy : 
Cercueils de Cachettes Royales, Pls. I and II, and pp. 1-2. 
Cairo 1909.) See Fig. 47. 

In the XVIIIth Dynasty styles became diversified. The 
simplest form of coffin represented the mummy with a heavy 
wig, wrapped in its shroud with bandages encircling the 
body at regular intervals and crossing a vertical bandage 
running from the chest to the feet. All this was represented 
by painting, either on plain wood or on wood covered with 
a thin coating of plaster. The background was coloured 
white. A good example of this type is the coffin of Ameno- 
phis I (Fig. 45, and cf. Daressy, op. cit. Pls. VI, VII). Even 
in coffins of this type the rishi-motive of wings sometimes 
reappears (coffin of Ray, Daressy, op. cit. Pl. V). A perfectly 
plain coffin without the transverse bands, depicting the 
mummy with wig and pectoral ornaments only, is common 
in the early XVIIIth Dynasty. (Daressy, op. cit. Pls. IX, 
XI). In the coffin of Queen Aahotpe II,? we meet with 


1 The British Museum has five specimens, the Louvre and Cairo Museums 
have others. One discovered by Petrie is shown in Petrie, Qurneh, Pl. XXIV, 
and a fine one discovered at Thebes is figured in the New York Metropolitan 
Museum Bulletin, 1917, p. 13. 

2 Queen Aahotpe I had a rishi-coffin, which is now at Cairo. Maspero: 
Guide, ed. iv, p. 413, and fig. 118 (Cairo 1915). 


136 


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FIG 59.—ARM FROM A MUMMY, SHOWING 
BEAD BRACELET 








FIG 60—GALI-STONES IN THE LIVER OF A MUMMY OF THE 
XXISt DYNASTY 








FIG. 61.—MUMMY OF A PRIESTESS OF AMEN (XXIst DYNASTY) FROM WHICH THE GALL-STONES SHOWN IN 
FIG. 60 WERE TAKEN 





MUMMY CASES 


quite a different type, which is somewhat similarly repeated 
in the case of Queen Nefretari. These coffins are made of 
wood and of linen pasteboard. The form represents the 
mummy wearing a heavy wig, the hands, which protrude 
from the bandages, grasp emblems of life. A single vertical 
band of inscription runs to the feet. The shoulders and arms 
are represented as covered in a woven shawl. On the head 
stand the two high plumes which are the head-dress of the 
god Amen. (Daressy, op. cit. Pls. III, VIII and IX.) A 
much greater elaboration in style now appears, and persisted, 
with infinite variations, until late times. The mummy is 
represented as bedecked with jewellery, and elaborate 
ear-rings, pectorals, and bracelets in multi-coloured paint, 
or worked in inlaid paste, make their appearance. The 
ground is still divided into compartments by what were 
originally simple bandages, and on these dividing lines 
prayers are inscribed, all the free space between which is 
filled with figures of protective deities. The custom of 
using two or more coffins one within the other still continues. 
The inside is usually painted white and covered with prayers 
or extracts from the Book of the Dead, and large figures of 
the goddess Isis on the bottom of the coffin who holds the 
mummy in her embrace, and of Nut (the sky-goddess) on 
the lid who spreads protectingly over the mummy in accord- 
ance with a very early funerary text. 

Greater and greater elaboration of detail is employed, 
until the whole surface of the coffin is covered with inscrip- 
tions, emblems and scenes. The weighing of the heart, 
supplication before Osiris and other deities, and episodes 
from the passage of the sun through the twelve hours of 
the night, crowd closer and closer upon one another. It is 
unnecessary to indicate references to these coffins which 
develop in greater and greater elaboration throughout the 
XVIilIth, XTXth, XXth and XXIst Dynasties, as examples 

137 Ss 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


of them are innumerable in all museums. The general 
development can be conveniently seen by looking through 
the successive plates in Daressy’s catalogue of the royal 
and priestly coffins in the Cairo Museum, or by the inspection 
of the actual specimens in any museum. 

It will be observed that all these devices are not merely 
decorative, but provide a magic garment of protection for 
the dead man, who is represented as a mummy bedecked in 
amulets and prayers for his welfare. Occasionally, however, 
the deceased appears not as a mummy, but as a living person 
in civil dress, in the condition, in fact, that the ceremony of 
Opening the Mouth (see p. 42) was intended to accomplish. 
Examples of this type are rare (until it became customary 
in Roman times), but a good specimen may be seen in the 
mummy-case of a woman discovered by Maspero in 1886 
in the Theban Tomb of Sennozem of late XIXth or early 
XXth Dynasty date (Fig. 46). This beautiful coffin is 
now in the Berlin Museum, the contents of the tomb having 
unfortunately been dispersed without publication. 

Reference may also be made to the fine series of anthro- 
poid coffins of the priests of Mont, discovered by Mariette 
behind the temple at Deir-el-Bahari, and which are the 
subject of a special volume by H. Gauthier in the Cairo 
Museum Catalogue.? 

Sarcophagi, although not used continuously, were never 
entirely discontinued. Massive stone sarcophagi were used 
for kings and nobles in the Old and Middle Empires. The 
stone sarcophagus of Cheops of the IVth Dynasty is still 


1 Daressy : Cercueils des Cachettes Royales, Cairo 1909, and Chassinat: La 
Seconde Trouvaille de Deir-el-Bahari, Cairo 1909, both of these volumes belong 
to the official series of Cairo Museum Catalogues. For a fine series of coffins 
of the latter end of the XVIIIth Dynasty see Quibell : Tomb of Yuaa and Thuiu, 
Cairo 1908, which belongs to the same series. 

2 Cercueils anthropoides des Prétres de Montou, Cairo 1918. 


138 


MUMMY CASES 


in his pyramid. That of Mycerinus was found in the 
third pyramid, but lost at sea. Fortunately a drawing of it 
survives.1 In the Middle Kingdom stone sarcophagi were 
beautifully carved and painted, and those found by Naville 
at Deir-el-Bahari and now in the Cairo Museum are amongst 
the finest artistic productions of the period. Owing to their 
great weight many of these monuments are necessarily left 
in situ and not brought to European museums. Stone 
sarcophagi of the XVIIIth Dynasty are known by several 
examples found in the Royal Tombs at Thebes.? 

The great alabaster sarcophagus of King Sety I of the 
XITXth Dynasty is a wonderful piece of workmanship. It 
is mummiform in shape, and is covered both inside and out 
with a complete copy of the Book of Gates, a mystical religious 
work which described the passage of the sun through the 
twelve hours of the night and the gates to each division 
through which he had to pass. There are also extracts 
from the Book of the Dead. Large wooden sarcophagi, 
mounted on runners, which resemble in form the great 
hearses depicted in the funeral processions (see p. 40), were 
also sometimes used. For good examples those found in 
the Tomb of Yuaa cannot be surpassed.‘ 


1 Capart: Egyptian Art, London 1928, Pl. XIX. 

2 For sarcophagi of the Old Empire, cf. Maspero: Ars Una,. Egypt 1921, 
figs. 42 and 43. For the Middle Empire, see Naville : Eleventh Dynasty Temple 
pt. i, Pls. XIX, XX, XXII, XXIII, etc. Maspero: op. cit. fig. 206. For the 
XVIlIth Dynasty, see Theodore M. Davis: Tomb of Hatshopsitu, and Tomb of 
Thoutmésis IV. Maspero: Struggle of the Nations, p. 835, has a figure of the 
Sarcophagus of Ay, Tutankhamen’s successor, and news has recently been 
announced of the discovery of the sarcophagus of Tutankhamen himself. 

3’ This sarcophagus, now in Sir John Soane’s Museum, was discovered by 
Belzoni in 1817 and brought by him to England. It was published by Bonomi 
and Sharpe: The Alabaster Sarcophagus of Oimenepthah I, London 1864. A 
general description of it, with illustrations, was published as an official museum 
handbook by Budge in 1908. See the same author’s Hgyplian Heaven and Hell 
(three vols.). 

4 Quibell : Tomb of Yuaa and Thuiu, Pls. I and VII. 


139 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


The coffins of the Saite and Bubastite periods! are 
massive and elaborate but display a deterioration in art and 
workmanship which we cannot fail to recognise, although 
the massive stone sarcophagi which were used in this and 
later times are very fine both in sculpture and decoration, 
and are covered with texts and pictures from the Book of 
Him who is in the Netherworld.2, In Greek times the deteri- 
oration is still more marked and an alien touch is felt.? 

When we reach Roman times we find the Egyptian 
Symbolism less and less conspicuous in coffin-decoration. It 
was gradually passing out of use and was being misunder- 
stood and its significance forgotten. The mummy-cases of 
this period were caricatures of their Pharaonic forerunners. 
Egyptian designs in a debased form survive, however, into 
the Christian period. Thus we have a coffin in the 
British Museum dated a.p. 110 displaying the goddess Nut, 
together with the twelve signs of the Zodiac.4 Coffins made 
of papyrus-fibre of this period sometimes represent the dead 
entirely without funerary emblems and clad in civil dress.5 

In Roman times the custom was introduced of discarding 
the cartonnage mask which had been in continuous use for 
many centuries, and of substituting therefor a wooden 
panel with an oil painting of the face of the deceased. The 
technique and artistic merit of these panels is wonderful, 
and a large series of them found by Petrie has been ad- 
mirably reproduced in colour, and forms an important 


2 Moret : Sarcophages de Epoque Bubastite a P Epoque Saite, Cairo 19138. 

* Guide to the Egyptian Galleries (Sculpture), British Museum 1909, pp. 224— 
248, and Pls. XX X-XXXIII. 

* Maspero: Sarcophages de lV Epoques Persane et Ptolemaique, Cairo 1908, 
and Edgar: Greco-Egyptian Coffins, (Cairo 1905). 

* Brit. Mus., No. 6705, Third Egyptian Room. 

5 Brit. Mus., No. 29,585: Guide to First and Second Egyptian Rooms, 1924, 
Pl. XXXIV. In this guide-book the style in use in late times is well illustrated 
and a comparison of the various types can be made. 


140 


MUMMY CASES 


contribution, not only to archeology, but to the history of 
art, and actual specimens may be seen, not only in museums, 
but in the National Gallery. 

From what has been said above as to the general deteri- 
oration in the manufacture of mummy-cases it must not be 
inferred that this is universal, although the general tendency. 
Fine specimens of all periods are known, but these are rather 
the exception than the rule. 


BANDAGES. 

Some reference was made to the bandaging of mummies 
in connexion with the Egyptian texts which relate to them 
(see pp. 46 ff.). The wrapping of the body in bandages 
was an essential part of the process of embalming, and from 
the time of the Ist Dynasty, in which the earliest instance 
of such wrapping occurs, it was continued until mummifica- 
tion was finally obsolete. 

The wrappings consist of a number of linen bandages 
of various lengths and qualities, and of shrouds or winding- 
sheets. The actual method of applying them has been 
referred to from time to time in previous chapters in dealing 
with specific mummies, but in general terms it may be said 
that each limb, and in some cases each digit, was separately 
wrapped. The arms having been placed in position, either 
alongside the body or in various attitudes of flexion according 
to the period, the bandaging was continued over the whole, 
the trunk and limbs being bound up together in one parcel. 
At intervals a large sheet or shroud was wrapped round the 
body and tied at the head and foot, and the bandages reverted 
to. Several layers of alternate bandage and shroud often 
occur in one mummy. 


1 Petrie: The Hawara Portfolio, 1913 (24 subjects in colour); Roman 
Portraits and Memphis IV, 1911 (4 subjects in colour and others by photography). 
See also Hawara, Biahmu and Arsinée, 1889, pp. 14-21 and 37-42. 


141 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


Amulets and other objects were placed in position as 
the wrapping proceeded, and sometimes a papyrus roll, 
containing the Book of the Dead or some other funerary 
composition, was placed between the legs and enveloped in 
the bandages. 

The bandaging attained great elaboration in later periods, 
and the bandages were so arranged as to form a series of 
elaborate patterns.+ 

Occasionally, in addition to the linen bandages, shirts or 
garments were placed upon mummies. Thus when unrolling 
the mummy of Sety II several fragments of garments were 
found, and two perfectly intact shirts of very fine muslin. 
It is ever to be lamented that although these articles were 
immediately handed over to the conservator of the Cairo 
Museum, they mysteriously disappeared from the collection 
and could not be found when the official catalogue was pre- 
pared. One of the royal mummies from Deir-el-Bahari 
was found enveloped in a sheep-skin. As far as we know, 
this instance is unique, but the mummy in question was 
altogether exceptional in its treatment and technique, and 
was supposed by Maspero to have been poisoned and buried 
alive.’ In the early centuries of the Christian era, mummies 
were frequently clothed in garments made of fine linen and 
elaborately embroidered. 

In the coffins of the Middle Kingdom folded sheets of 
linen were often laid over the mummy. 

In spite of the great elaboration in the wrapping of 
mummies, our present available material is quite inadequate 


* Of this, again, instances are so numerous in museums that only a few 
references need be given. The whole question is elaborately dealt with by 
Petrie : Hawara, ch. iii. A series of pictures will be found in the article on 
Mummies in Wonders of the Past. 

* Smith Elliot : The Royal Mummies, pp. 74-5. 

3 Les Momies Royales, p. 548-551 and 778-782 ; Struggle of the Nations, p. 480. 


142 


BANDAGES 


for a detailed study. Out of the hundreds of mummies in 
various museums, few have been unrolled. The royal mum- 
mies of Cairo had all been plundered and their wrappings 
reduced to mere torn bundles of rags. In a fewcases the 
wrapping of mummies has been carefully recorded, but 
until we have many other such records of all periods for 
comparison it is wasted time to attempt to reduce our 
scanty information to order. The recorded instances of 
wrapping have already been cited (see p. 49, note 1). 

Mummies are often found bearing leather or linen 
‘‘ braces’ or straps, placed over the shoulders and crossed 
in front of the chest. Good examples of these were found 
in several of the royal mummies, and the “‘ Leeds mummy ” 
had ‘‘ braces ’”’ bearing the cartouches of Ramesses XI. 


CARTONNAGE. 


Reference has been made above (p. 185) to the use of 
cartonnage masks. These are the development of the 
earlier methods employed to preserve the likeness of the 
dead man, whose features were concealed under the wrap- 
pings. We have already seen the attempt made to model 
the features on the resin-saturated bandages in the case of 
the Meidim mummy (above, p. 75), and allusion has also 
been made to the use of substitute heads and death masks. 
The cartonnage mask gave rise, as we have already seen, to 
the anthropoid coffin, but was retained in conjunction with 
the latter, and developed. Instead of the mask and head- 
dress of the Middle Kingdom mummies, a complete covering 
or envelope of cartonnage, laced up at the back, came into 
general use in the New Kingdom and persisted down to the 
latest times (Fig. 48). In Ptolemaic times it became a 
frequent custom to discard the single envelope of cartonnage, 
and to use a number of separate units. One piece covered 

143 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


the head and shoulders, another placed upon the chest 
was adorned with representations of amulets and jewellery, 
and a foot-piece on which the details of the feet or sandals 
were painted was placed over the legs and feet. For a fine 
example of this method of using cartonnage we may refer 
to the frontispiece, which represents a mummy of the 
Ptolemaic period found in Nubia.! 

It may be mentioned that waste-papers, i.e. fragments 
of old papyrus documents, were largely used in making 
cartonnage. From the mummy-cartonnage of Ptolemaic 
and later periods a large series of valuable classical texts 
has been recovered. 


THE CANopic JARs. 

The name of ‘‘ Canopic Jars ’’ has long been applied to 
the four jars in which the viscera were placed after they 
had been removed from the body and separately embalmed. 
They are generally of very fine workmanship and usually 
bear inscriptions. They have been found in tombs of the 
Old Kingdom,? which proves that their use goes back to 
very ancient times, and although no organic remains have 
survived from the early dynasties, it is evident that evis- 
ceration was practised in the process of mummification 
even at that early period, a fact which is confirmed by 
early mummies having embalming incisions (see p. 76). 

In the Middle Kingdom their use was still continued, as 
many instances show. In the XIth Dynasty Tomb of 
Senebtisi at Lisht, for instance, four canopic jars were 
found with their contents still in them. 


+ Examples of the various methods of using cartonnage are too numerous 
to necessitate any references being given. Specimens can be seen in all museums 
and in the reports of numerous excavations in the course of which they have 
been found. 

* Reisner: The Dated Canopic Jars in the Gizeh Museum in the Agyptische 
Zeitschrift, t. xxxvii (1899), pp. 61 ff. 


144 





MUMMY OF A PRIEST OF AMEN (XxIst DYNASTY) AFFLICTED WITH POTTI’S DISEASE 


62. 


FIG. 











FiG. 63. 


VERTEBRA AFFECTED WITH TUBERCULAR CARIES FROM A MUMMY OF THE 
MIDDLE KINGDOM 





(AISVNAC Y}A) ‘“ANOG-HOIHL AHL 40 VNOIUVS-OFLSO—bg corsa 











VIG, 65.—TALIPES, OR ~ CLUB-FOOT,’ 
OS THE PHARAOH SIPTAH 





CANOPIC JARS 


The stoppers or lids of these jars were fashioned in the 
shape of human heads until the end of the XVIIIth Dynasty, 
after which they bore the heads of the four children of 
Horus—one with a human head, one hawk-headed, one 
jackal-headed and the fourth ape-headed. These jars, 
when sealed, were placed in a chest or coffer, which may be 
seen drawn on a sledge in the pictures of the funeral pro- 
cession* and of which many examples have been found.? 
(Fig. 49). 

The sets of jars never exceed four in number and are 
never less than four, each jar being identified with one of 
the four children of Horus. The viscera were wrapped in 
four separate packages: (1) containing the liver which 
was identified with Imsety, (2) containing the stomach with 
Duamutef, (8) containing the lungs with Hapy, and (4) con- 
taining the intestines with Qebeh-snewef (Figs. 50-54). 

It is commonly stated in such text-books as refer to 
embalming that all the viscera were removed from the 
body and put into canopic jars, Imsety receiving the 
stomach and large intestines, Hapy receiving the small 
intestines, Duamutef the heart and lungs, and Qebeh-snewef 
the liver and gall bladder. This attribution, which has 
been repeated again and again, is copied from a statement 
made in 1837 by Pettigrew ° in the case of a single mummy 
where carelessness on the part of the embalmer led to the 
wrong attribution of the viscera in this instance. As the 
result of the examination of a large series of mummies the 
correct attribution stated above was arrived at.* 


1 See above, p. 40. 

2? For examples see Mace and Winlock: The Tomb of Senebtisi, Pl. VIII 
(XIth Dynasty); Brunton: LZahun, Pl. XIV (XIIth Dynasty); Quibell: 
Tomb of Yuaa and Thuiu, Pls. XIV and XV (XVIIIth Dynasty). 

8 Transactions of Society of Antiquaries, April 1838 (*‘ The Jersey Mummy’”’). 

4 Elliot Smith: ‘‘ Contribution to the Study of Mummification in Egypt,” 
in the Memoires Inst. Egypt, t. v, fase. i, 1906. 


145 T 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


It will be observed that no account is here taken of the 
heart and kidneys. Diodorus Siculus expressly mentions 
that the heart and kidneys were not excised with the other 
viscera (see above, p. 63). An examination of very many 
mummies proves that the heart is always left in situ and 
attached to the great vessels (see Fig. 38), except in a few 
cases where through careless manipulation the heart was 
wholly or partly severed. In such cases it was replaced in 
the body and never wrapped up with the other viscera. 

With reference to the kidneys the case is not so clear. 
At the time of the XXIst Dynasty the general custom of 
putting the excised viscera into canopic jars was given up,! 
and it became the practice to wrap up each viscus along 
with a wax model of its appropriate guardian deity (Figs. 
50-54), and restore it to the body (Fig. 50). Occasionally 
the kidneys were found (in the same series of mummies 
examined as mentioned above) in parcels of viscera associated 
with one or other of the deities ; more often they were found 
in parcels apart from those which contained the wax images 
of the children of Horus, and in many cases the kidneys were 
not recognisable in any of the parcels. The fact that the 
kidneys were thus not definitely associated with any one 
of the four funerary genii, when considered in conjunction 
with the statement of Diodorus, might perhaps be regarded 
as evidence in favour of the view that it was the intention 
of the embalmers to leave the kidneys, like the heart, in 
position in the body, and that some special significance 
attached to these two organs, which made it undesirable 
that they should be removed from the body along with the 


1 For the decline in the use of canopic jars see Journ. Eg. Arch., t. v, p. 278, 
note 2. Dummy vases were sometimes put into the tomb to perpetuate the 
ancient practice long after their real function was lost. Some canopic jars 
of the XXIst Dynasty belonging to the family of the priest-kings are known, 
but they were very sparingly used at this period. 


146 


CANOPIC JARS 


other viscera. The fact that the kidney was sometimes 
actually removed is presumably evidence merely of care- 
lessness on the part of the operator, such as happened 
occasionally in the case of the heart also. 

For a general archeological account of the canopic jars 
and of the texts inscribed thereon the reader is once more 
referred to Gardiner’s Tomb of Amenemhét (p. 118). 


AMULETS. 


The use of amulets in connexion with burials in Egypt 
was very widespread and survived from pre-dynastic right 
down to Christian times. 

These amulets, which are of very various kinds, were 
all endowed with potent magical virtues and gave protection 
to the deceased from all the dangers of the future life. The 
very bandages in which the body was wrapped, as we have 
seen from the Ritual of Embalming, all had magical names, 
and each one was an amulet, the gift of a god or goddess. 
The mummy is commonly called “this god.” The hiero- 
glyphic sign for “‘ god ”’ is itself a roll of cloth,? and it appears 
amongst the pictures of supplies provided for the dead on 
many coffins of the Middle Kingdom. In the Tanis Sign 
Papyrus the sign ntr (god) is defined as twf kris, “it is 
buried ” or ‘‘ embalmed,” i.e. ceremonially bandaged and 
assimilated to Osiris.? 

In the New Kingdom it became customary to bury with 
each mummy a papyrus roll inscribed with a number of 
magic spells. This collection of spells is the well-known 
Book of the Dead. The entire roll containing these spells 


1 For a full discussion of the treatment of the viscera see Elliot Smith: 
Journal of the Manchester Oriental Society, vol. i (1911), pp. 45 ff. 

2 Griffith : Hieroglyphs, P1. III, fig. 26, and p. 144. 

8 Griffith : Two Hieroglyphic Papyri from Tanis, p. 16. 


147 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


was in itself looked upon as an amulet of great power, and 
small models of rolled-up papyri made of faience and other 
materials are often found in great numbers in tombs.! 
Other books besides the Book of the Dead written on papyrus 
were from the XXIst Dynasty onwards buried with mum- 
mies. The roll was generally placed between the legs and 
enclosed within the bandages, a good instance being the 
XXIst Dynasty priestess with the Book of Him Who is in 
the Netherworld unrolled some years ago at Cairo.2 In 
later times still we find extracts from the Pyramid Texts, 
the old funerary book of the Pyramid Age,? the Book of 
Breathings,* and shorter works of the kind published by 
Birch and by Speleers.5 

Amongst the numerous spells in the Book of the Dead 
are many which relate specifically to amulets, and in the 
rubrics directions are given as to the use of them. The 
following may be mentioned :— 

Spells 19 and 20° (R. 57-59, N. 194).—This text which 
occurs only in late papyri deals with the Crown of Justifica- 
tion, which is a floral wreath or garland to be placed upon 
the head of the mummy. Floral garlands are not uncommon 


1 E.g. Tomb of Tuthmosis IV. See Carter-Newberry: Tomb of Thoutmosis 
IV (Cairo Cat. Gen.), pp. 114 ff. and Pl. XXV. 

2 Elliot Smith: Annales du Service, t. vii, Pls. V and IX. 

% Renouf: Life-Work, t. ii, pp. 885-899. 

* British Museum, No. 9995. Papyrus of Kerasher (ed. Budge). 

® Birch: Proc. Soc. Bibl. Archeology, 1885. Speleers: Rec. de Travaua, 
t. 39, pp. 25 ff. The two Rhind Papyri previously mentioned are funerary » 
spells of the same kind, as are also the papyri published by Maspero: Quelques 
Papyrus du Louvre, pp. 58-72. 

® We use the word “spell” in preference for the usual term “chapter.” 
The abbreviations R and N respectively refer to the pages of Renouf: The 
Egyptian Book of the Dead ; Translation and Commentary (continued and com- 
pleted by Naville), 1893-1904, and to Naville: Das degyptische Todtenbuch, 
Berlin 1886, Hinleitung, where the Egyptian titles of the spells are given in 
full. The text and variants, not cited here, are in tomes i and ii of the same 
work. 


148 


AMULETS 


in Egyptian tombs, and several fine specimens were found 
in the Tomb of Tutankhamen. The mummies of Aahmes I 
and of Amenophis I were decked with floral garlands. 
According to Gardiner? these garlands were placed on 
mummies in memory of the wreaths given to Osiris on his 
triumphant exit from the judgment-hall of Heliopolis. 

Spells 26-29 b (R. 66-73, N. 195).—All have reference to 
the heart. They are spells for preventing the removal of 
the heart from the body, or for ensuring that the heart shall 
be restored to the deceased. As the heart was never (except 
accidentally) removed from the body during the embalming 
process, these spells have more meaning in them than was 
formerly supposed.? 

These spells were often written on gems.? 

Spells 30 a and b (R. 74-75, N. 195).—Also relating to 
the heart, are very frequent both in papyri and also engraved 
upon large scarabs known as heart-scarabs. 

Innumerable mummies have been found with _heart- 
scarabs upon them.® 

Spell 151 A, ter (R. 3818, N. 202), is called the Spell for 
the Mysterious Head, the vignette being the head of amummy, 
also doubtless an amulet. 

Spell 155 (R. 325, N. 202).—‘* The dad of gold to be 
placed upon the neck of the glorious one.’”? Amulets of this 
kind are common in all materials, especially blue faience, 
and are placed in almost any position on the mummy or 
laid among the wrappings. The dad is often found in the 


1 Maspero: Les Momies Royales, Pl. IV. 

2 Tomb of Amenemhét, p. 111 and footnote 3. Gardiner suggests that the 
** Wreath of Justification ’’ may be the ultimate origin of the “* Crown of Right- 
eousness ”’ (2 Tim. iv, 8). 3 See p. 146. 

* Renouf, op. cit. p. 74, note. 

5 Wor a full account of the heart-scarab and its text, together with translation 
and notes, see Gardiner, op. cit. p. 112, and for a partially unwrapped mummy 
with the scarab in situ, see Annales du Service, t. vii, Pl. V, fig 2. 


149 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


canonical position (Fig. 55). Sometimes the dad is tied to 
the arm (Fig. 58). 

It is the emblem of Osiris and is a frequent ornamental 
device in funerary shrines, where it is usually associated with 
the girdle-tie.1 

Spell 156 (R. 826, N. 202).—The girdle-tie of red jasper. 
This amulet is a symbol of Isis. The rubric directs that it 
shall be placed upon the neck. 

Spell 157 (R. 826, N. 202).—The vulture of gold. This 
amulet is also to be placed upon the neck. This spell is 
not found earlier than the Saite period. 

Spell 158 (R. 827, N. 202).—The collar of gold. This also 
is directed to be placed upon the neck. 

Spell 159 (R. 328, N. 202).—The column of green felspar. 
The vignettes show this to be a model of a papyrus column. 
The rubric directs that the spell shall be written on the 
amulet, which is to be placed upon the neck.? In Fig. 56 
this amulet is seen tied to the arm of the mummy. 

Spell 162 (R. 830-32).—The hypocephalus. This is a 
late spell and does not occur in early copies of the Book of 
the Dead. The title is “‘ spell for causing a flame to arise 
under the head of the deceased.” A long rubric directs 
that the spell shall be recited over the image of a cow in 
gold, and placed on the neck of the deceased, or painted 
on a new papyrus and placed under the head, and it is 
in this latter form that we know the hypocephali in late 
mummies. 


1 Gardiner, op. cit. p. 112. 

* The next spell, No. 160, is entitled ‘‘ Giving the Column of Green Felspar.” 

3 So Naville in Renouf : op. cit. p. 330. 

* The text will be found in Lepsius: Todtenbuch, Pl. LXXI = Budge: 
Book of the Dead, text, t. iii, p. 22. 

For pictures of hypocephali see Daressy: Tewtes et Dessins magiques, 
Pl. XIII, and Budge : Meuzx Collection, Pl. VI. 


150 


AMULETS 


Spell 165 (R. 338-9).—This is a late text and is the last 
spell in the Turin Todtenbuch. It prescribes a series of 
magical words to be spoken over a figure painted “in blue 
with liquid gum.” The drawing is to be that of a figure 
with “ raised arm.” ! with “‘ two plumes on its head, its legs 
apart, its torso a scarab-beetle.”’ 

The rubric adds, further, that the spell is to be recited 
*‘ over a figure, the middle part of which is that of a man; 
his arms are hanging down. The head of a ram is his right 
shoulder and another on his left shoulder. Thou wilt paint 
on one bandage the two figures of the god with the raised 
arm, and put it across the chest of the deceased, so that the 
two painted figures may be on his breast.”’ 2 

There does not appear to be any mummy recorded upon 
which a bandage so drawn upon has been found. 

Spell 166.3—Spell for the pillow. The pillow or head- 
rest is frequently found under the heads of mummies of all 
periods. 

Spell 171.4—Spell for wrapping up the deceased in a pure 
garment. 

This spell has hitherto been found in one papyrus only 5 
and is not really part of the Book of the Dead. From its 
mention of the gods Amen and Mont it evidently is of 
Theban origin and may, as Naville suggests, belong to the 
Ritual of Amen. 

Mummies of all periods are found bedecked with countless 


1 T.e. the god Min. 

2 In Renouf (Naville), op. cit. Pl. LVIII, the vignettes of these two figures 
are reproduced from the Turin papyrus. The first mentioned is the god Min 
in his usual attitude, but with a scarab for his body. 

* Naville in Renouf, op. cit. p. 340. Birch: Aegyptische Zeitschrift, 1868, 
p- 82. 

4 Op. cit. p. 347. 

5 Mariette: Pap.’ de} Boulagq, t. iii, Pl. VII= Budge: Book of the Dead, 
text, t. iii, p. 53. 


151 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


amulets, including those mentioned above and many others.? 
(See Figs. 50-54.) 

A late hieratic papyrus in the Louvre? containing the 
Book of Breathings, and translated many years ago by de 
Horrack,® has on the verso a demotic rubric giving certain 
directions as to bandaging. 

“The Book of Breathings which must be placed upon the 
side of the god (i.e. the deceased) on the outside of the 
innermost wrappings. It must be placed in his hand upon 
his heart, and it must then be wrapped in a cloth of fine 
linen, so that it is placed between his hand and his breast ; 
then the rest of the bandaging must be proceeded with. 

“The Book of Breathings is that which Isis made for 
Osiris.”’ 4 

Figures of gods and other devices are often drawn in 
ink upon the wrappings of mummies. Thus the mummy of 
Ramesses III had a bandlet round the head inscribed with 
figures of sacred vultures and urei, and on removing the 
outer shroud a large drawing of a ram-headed bird with 
outstretched wings was disclosed. In the XXIst Dynasty 
a large figure of Osiris was often traced upon one of the 
shrouds.® 

Finally, reference may be made to embalming-plates. 
These have frequently been referred to above in describing 


t A detailed list of the amulets found upon a single Ptolemaic mummy will 
be found in Daressy : Annales du Service, t. iv, pp. 80-83. See also the very 
full list of the amulets found on an XIth Dynasty mummy in Mace and Winlock : 
Tomb of Senebtisi, pp. 121 ff. 

2 Deveria: Cat. Manuscrits Egypt., iv, 4 (8284), p. 182. Revillout 
quotes it as No. 2891 in Aegyptische Zeitschrift, 17 (1879), p. 92. 

3 An English version of de Horrack’s translation is in Records of the Past 
(second series), t. iv, pp. 119 ff. 

4 The demotic text is reproduced by Revillout : Aeg. Zeit., 17 (1879), Pl. VI, 
No. 23. 

5 Maspero : Les Momies Royales, Pl. XVII. 

8 Annales du Service, t. vii, Pl. VI, fig. 1. 


152 


AWWOAW GWYS AHI JO Ladd GNV ‘(VIGON “GV AUNINAD Y}9) ASONdAT HIIM GALOVIAV NVILSIYHD D1ld0D VY JO AWWAW V ao SaNVH—'Z9 GNY 99 ‘SDIa 











FIG, 68,.—-PREDYNASTIC SKULL, SHOWING THE DESTRUCTION OF THE MASTOID PROCESS BY DISEASE 





FIG. 69..—_BROKEN FORE-ARM OF A vth DYNASTY MUMMY SET IN SPLINTS 


ee ts 





AMULETS 


individual mummies, and are usually of wax, gold or other 
metals. These plates were laid over the incision in the left 
flank. The earliest forms are simple leaf-like plates, unin- 
scribed. Towards the XXIst Dynasty a rectangular type 
was used, usually inscribed with the sacred eye in order 
to confer protection to the body (see Figs. 57 and 58). The 
magnificent specimen found on the mummy of Queen 
Henttaui (swpra p. 117) had not only the symbolic eye, but 
figures of the four children of Horus who had especial care 
of the viscera. The function of these embalming-plates 
was clearly intended to be that of magic amulets affording 
protection to the viscera, and their position over the embalm- 
ing-wound indicates that they acted as guardians over the 
orifice through which the organs were extracted, and in the 
XXIst Dynasty restored to the body. 


158 U 


CHAPTER X 


MUMMIFICATION IN RELATION TO MEDICINE 
AND PATHOLOGY 


\ ’ 7 E have already called attention to the fact that the 
history of mummification touches that of medicine 

at many points. During the many centuries of the 

practice of embalming in Egypt men were constantly being 
reminded of the similarity of the human structure to that of 
animals used for food, so that even if there is little evidence 
of the acquisition of exact anatomical knowledge, it is 
altogether inconceivable that the long familiarity with the 
organs of the human body and their homologies with those 
of other mammals could have failed to influence the growth 
of knowledge of the human frame. And in fact, we know 
from such records as the Edwin Smith papyrus and the 
Kbers papyrus that the Egyptians had knowledge of certain 
parts of the body and their functions which for many 
centuries the Greeks lacked. But even more important 
than the positive gain in knowledge which the practice of 
mummification brought about was the influence it exerted 
in other ways on the progress of anatomy and the science 
of medicine in general. By familiarising the people of 
Egypt during the course of thirty centuries with the idea 
of cutting the dead human body, it was responsible for over- 
coming the popular prejudice against systematic dissection, 
which prevented Greek physicians from acquiring a know- 
ledge of practical anatomy in their own country. But 
public opinion in Egypt was such that no insuperable 

154 


MEDICINE AND PATHOLOGY 


difficulty stood in their way: so that they were able to 
dissect in Alexandria from the third century B.c. onwards. 

The practice of mummification affected the history of 
medicine in other ways. By familiarising the embalmers 
with the properties of many resins, balsams, and other 
mineral and vegetable substances used in the practice of 
their art, it gave them knowledge of their antiseptic proper- 
ties, which afterwards led to their being included in the 
pharmacopeeia. But great as was the direct influence of the 
various kinds of knowledge and experience on the history 
of medicine, the art of mummification probably exercised 
an even greater influence in shaping the theory of disease 
and methods of cure. For the whole body of principles of 
magical procedure and treatment of disease in early times 
was intimately bound up with the beliefs that prompted 
the practice of mummification. The arts of both the 
embalmer and the physician were concerned with devising 
means of protecting the individual from dangers to his 
existence, and the magical procedures in each case aimed 
at the giving of life, or rather at the renewal of the vital 
substance which was supposed to be deficient both in cases 
of illness and in what we call death. 

With these serious aspects of the bearing of the practice 
of mummification on the history of medicine we have no 
intention of dealing in this book. But in this chapter a brief 
sketch will be given of the actual signs of disease revealed 
in Egyptian mummies, and in the bodies of the earlier 
peoples of the period prior to the invention of mummifica- 
tion. ‘The number of diseased conditions which it is possible 
to identify in mummified bodies is strictly limited. Apart 
from the diseases which leave some definite record in the 
bones, it is possible only in rare cases to establish any kind 
of pathological process with certainty. 

In mummies of different periods numerous cases of 

155 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


calculi have been found; stone in the bladder has been 
found even as early as pre-dynastic times, and stones 
in the kidney occur in bodies of the IInd Dynasty. 
What is surprising about such cases, however, is their 
extreme rarity. Amongst the records of something like 
30,000 bodies of ancient Egyptians and Nubians of 
which we have accurate records, only two cases of vesical 
calculus occur: one in a pre-dynastie body, the other one, 
curiously enough, inserted into the nostril of a priest of 
Amen of the XXIst Dynasty. Three cases of stone in 
the kidney have been recorded, and a single case of gall- 
stones (see Figs. 60 and 61). The first of these vesical 
calculi was submitted to very thorough examination by 
Professor Shattock, of the Royal College of Surgeons, London, 
but he was unable to find any trace of Bilharzia eggs,} 
although the most careful search was made. But some 
years later Sir Mare Armand Ruffer found Bilharzia eggs 
in a mummy of the XXIst Dynasty.? 

Several cases of arterial disease have been found in the 
course of our investigations. One of these was examined 
in detail by Professor Shattock, whose report on the case 
has been published.? Others were described in the Journal 
of Pathology and Bacteriology for 1911 by Sir Mare Armand 
Ruffer. 

During the course of the examination of the mummies 
of the priesthood of Amen of the XXIst Dynasty a case of 
Pott’s Disease was found (Fig. 62) with severe spinal curva- 
ture and a large psoas abscess, to which reference has 
already been made and a description of which was published 
in Sudhoff’s Journal in 1910.4 


1 Trans. Pathological Soc. of London, vol. lvi (1905), p. 275. 

2 British Medical Journal, January 1, 1910. 3 Lancet, January 30, 1909. 

* G. Elliot Smith and Mare Armand Ruffer in Zur historischen Biologie der 
Krankheitserreger, Heft 8, 1910. 


156 


MEDICINE AND PATHOLOGY 


No true case of rickets or of syphilitic disease has been 
found in any ancient Egyptian remains. The much- 
debated problem of the occurrence of syphilis was dis- 
cussed by one of us in The Lancet of August 22, 1908, 
where it was shown that there was no evidence whatever 
of any syphilitic injuries to the bones, nor anything even 
remotely resembling syphilitic injuries to the teeth. With 
reference to tuberculosis, in addition to the case of Pott’s 
Disease mentioned above, a case of hip-disease was found 
in a body of the Vth Dynasty from the necropolis near 
the Pyramids, and a series of eight other cases of tubercular 
disease of the spine in Nubia.! (Fig. 63, from a mummy 
of the Middle Kingdom.) 

A large osteo-sarcoma of the femur (Fig. 64) and two 
cases of sarcoma of the head of the humerus were found 
in the cemetery of the Gizeh Pyramids (Vth Dynasty), 
but no evidences of true cancer occur until comparatively 
recent (Byzantine) times, when cases of malignant disease 
involving the base of the skull and sacrum respectively 
suggest the presence of epithelioma of the naso-pharynx 
and rectum respectively. Only one case of cleft palate 
and one of talipes (club-foot) have come to light. The 
latter is the well-known case of the Pharaoh Siptah of the 
XIXth Dynasty. (See above p. 100 and Fig. 65.) 

One of the most interesting cases brought to light is 
a perfect example of true gout. The subject of this disease 
was an elderly man; his long hair and beard were white, 
and the evidences afforded by his skeleton agreed with 
these indications of his age. He was a member of the local 
community of foreign Christians settled about the temple of 
Phile. The feet, and especially the great toes, showed the 


1 Bulletin of the Archeological Survey of Nubia, No. 3, p. 81. 
157 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


presence of the disease in the most striking manner. Large 
masses of white concretions were found on the metatarsal 
bones of the great toes, and the metatarso-phalangeal joints 
were the sites of these deposits, kept in place in the specimen 
by the tendons passing over them. The outer toes were 
affected to a lesser degree than the great toes, in which— 
on the left foot—one concretion measured 23 by 10 by 5 
millimetres. Similar concretions were found encrusting 
ulcerated surfaces on the tarsal bones, and lower ends of 
the tibiz and fibule; the knee-joints were also affected, 
and upon the posterior surface of the patelle, and in the 
patellar ligaments, were many chalky masses. The joints 
of the hands and of the arms showed the same chalky 
deposits, but they were not nearly so large as those in the 
feet and legs. The articulations of the carpus and meta- 
carpus showed the eroded patches, and the white masses ; 
and the humerus and radius of the right side were slightly 
affected. In addition to the signs of true gout, there were 
the typical inroads of the common osteo-arthritis; the 
vertebree, the shoulder-joints, and the left side of the jaw 
were the principal seats of its ravages. 

The substance that composed the numerous white 
concretions was tested by Dr. W. A. Schmidt, and it was 
found to yield the typical reactions of uric acid. The 
specimen is now in the museum of the Royal College of 
Surgeons, London. 

Both in Nubia and Egypt the ordinary form of dental 
caries is exceedingly rare in pre-dynastic and proto-dynastic 
people, and among the poorer classes it never became at 
all common until modern times. But as these people ate 
coarse food mixed with a considerable amount of sand, the 
teeth rapidly wore down, and as the result the pulp-cavities 
became opened up; in the fertile soil of the exposed dental 
pulp, septic infection found a much readier place of attack 

158 


MEDICINE AND PATHOLOGY 


than the hard resisting enamel and dentine of the tooth 
itself afforded ; hence it is common to find alveolar abscesses 
without dental caries, but some of the royal mummies suffered 
from both. Most of the dental disease of the archaic 
Egyptians and the poorer classes of the ancient Nubians in 
all periods is to be explained in this way. 

But dental caries, although extremely rare before the 
Pyramid Age, became common as soon as people learned 
luxury. In the cemetery of the time of the Ancient Empire, 
excavated by the Hearst Expedition at the Gizeh Pyramids, 
more than five hundred skeletons of aristocrats of the time 
of the pyramid-builders were brought to light, and in these 
bodies it was found that tartar-formation, dental caries and 
alveolar abscesses were at least as common as they are in 
modern Europe to-day. And at every subsequent period 
of Egyptian history one finds the same thing—the wide 
prevalence of every form of dental disease among the wealthy 
people of luxurious diet, and the relative immunity from it 
among the poorer people who lived mainly on a coarse 
uncooked vegetable diet. There is in no case the slightest 
suggestion that any operative measures were adopted in 
order to cope with dental trouble, and in spite of frequent 
statements to the contrary, tooth-stopping was never 
practised in ancient Egypt. 

The various pathological changes in bones and joints 
which are grouped collectively under the title of ‘‘ rheumatoid 
arthritis’ are so common in the bodies of all periods that it 
is true to say that ‘‘ rheumatoid arthritis” is par excellence 
the bone disease of the ancient Egyptian and Nubian. 

It is a condition of the very greatest interest, for it dates 
back—and with increasing frequency—to the earliest period 
of time with which we have to deal; it is therefore a disease 
of great antiquity and wonderful prevalence, for the pre- 
dynastic Nubian scarcely ever grew to adult life without 

159 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


experiencing some of its effects. It is also of interest for 
the reason that its manifestations are legion, and to its 
varied types nearly all those diseases, the effects of which 
may be found in bones, have at one time or another been 
ascribed. Not only is the disease remarkably common, but 
in its natural progress it often reached stages of very great 
severity. Its trivial manifestations in some cemeteries are 
practically universal in adults, and its grave ones are far 
from rare; and the specimens that illustrate this disease 
in our series are a remarkable collection of distorted joints 
and mishappen bones. 

In the mummy of a woman of the Byzantine period in 
Nubia a case of the adhesions of an old appendicitis was 
found. The thickened band of adhesion passed from the 
appendix and became attached to the opposite side of the 
pelvis.+ In the same cemetery a case of pleural adhesions 
was also recorded. In this case the left lung was collapsed 
and shrunken, and was firmly bound to the chest wall by a 
series of old adhesions.? 

Reference has already been made (p. 119) to the mummy 
of an aged priestess of Amen of the XXIst Dynasty. This 
woman had suffered from a pelvic abscess and had developed 
extensive bed-sores, which the embalmer had carefully hidden 
under neatly adjusted sheets of gazelle-skin leather (Fig. 37).° 

It is a curious fact that in a country where one might have 
expected leprosy to be common, only one case has been 
found, and that of early Christian date (Figs. 66, 67).4 

Mastoid disease was very common in Egypt and in Nubia. 
From the latter country a large series of skulls affected with 


1 Arch. Survey of Nubia, Bulletin No. 1, p. 82, Pl. XXIV. 
* Idem, Report on Human Remains, p. 268. 

* Mém. Inst. Egypt., t. v, fase. i, p. 25. 

* Arch, Survey of Nubia, Bulletin No. 6, p. 29. 


160 


Gir . 


bli 274 





FIG. 70.—MUMMY OF AMENOPHIS III (Xvilith 
DYNASTY) AS DISCOVERED IN THE COFFIN 
OF RAMESSES III 


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FIG 71.—HEAD OF A FEMALE MUMMY, SHOWING THE FLOWING HAIR 









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MEDICINE AND PATHOLOGY 


mastoid disease was found and studied, showing various 
developments. A typical instance is seen in Fig. 68. 
Various other forms of cranial ulceration have likewise 
been found.} 

Ramesses V, as already mentioned, suffered from a skin 
disease, the distribution and appearance of which strongly 
suggest small-pox (Fig. 28); but the exact diagnosis cannot 
be established with certainty: but the Pharaoh was un- 
healthy in other respects (see above, p. 105). 

Fractures of the bones, especially the forearm, were 
extremely common. Hence it is not surprising that splints 
for the treatment of such injuries have been found as early 
as the [Vth Dynasty (Fig. 69). Splints of the same curiously 
distinctive type are still in use in the Sudan and Abyssinia, 
as well as in Borneo (and elsewhere in the Malay Archipelago). 
After the mummy of the Pharaoh Siptah had been badly 
maltreated by grave-robbers, the priests who restored his 
broken mummy set his fractured arm with splints of the 
same kind, and other examples were found in Nubia in an 
early Christian cemetery. 

It is a curious fact that, although the Edwin Smith 
Papyrus * suggests considerable surgical knowledge in Egypt 
seventeen centuries before the Christian era, there is a com- 
plete absence of evidence, in all bodies hitherto examined, 
of surgical procedure apart from the use of splints. 

The use of a skinned mouse, presumably for the treatment 


1 Arch, Survey of Nubia: Report on the Human Remains, pp. 284 ff. 

2 G. Elliot Smith: ‘* The Earliest Splints,” in the British Medical Journal, 
March 28, 1908. 

3 The Royal Mummies, p. 42, fig. 14. 

4 This interesting papyrus has not yet been published, but Professor Breasted 
has given three preliminary accounts of it: (1) New York Historical Society’s 
Bulletin, April 1922, pp. 4-81; (2) Recueil Champollion, Paris 1922, pp. 385- 
429; (3) Bulletin of the Society of Medical History of Chicago, vol. iii, January 
1923, pp. 58-78. 

161 x 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


of serious illness in children, is a fact of exceptional interest, 
for in the alimentary canals of the bodies of several children 
in the pre-dynastic cemetery of Naga-ed-Dér, remains of 
this small animal were found which suggests that it had been 
skinned and administered as a final medicine to children in 
extremis. The mouse has continued as a children’s medicine 
down to the present day, and is a custom of wide geograph- 
ical distribution. The survival in popular medicine at the 
present day of a remedy which was already being used at 
least sixty centuries ago is without parallel. 

The only reliable account of the pathological conditions 
found in the mummies and skeletons of the ancient Egyptians 
and Nubians is that given by Wood Jones in the Annual - 
Report for 1907-8 of the Archeological Survey of Nubia, 
of which a special volume of 875 quarto pages deals with 
the human remains. 


1 G. Elliot Smith : The Ancient Egyptians, 2nd ed., p. 50, and see also W. R. 
Dawson : The Mouse in Medicine, to appear in vol. x of the Journal of Egyptian 
Archeology, Pt. ii (1924). 


162 


CHAPTER XI 
CONCLUSION 


of mummification in Egypt through a span of more than 

thirty centuries. Egyptian writings suggest that the 
practice of embalming must originally have been devised 
to render the body of the dead king incorruptible, so 
that he might continue his existence indefinitely as the god 
Osiris. Thus it was regarded as a divine art in the sense 
that it was essential for conferring the boon of immortality 
which transformed a mortal king into a god. But if it was 
indeed the exclusive privilege of kings at first, it was soon 
adopted by the aristocracy also—for the earliest mummies 
that have come down to us from antiquity are not those of 
members of the royal family. 

In course of time the practice of mummification became 
more and more widely democratised, until at the begin- 
ning of the Christian era it had spread to the whole 
population; and perhaps this fact may have played 
some part in preparing the way for the adoption of the 
Christian doctrine that the attainment of immortality was 
not the privilege of kings and nobles but was open to all 
mankind. 

But Egyptian art was not only widely diffused among the 
people of Egypt, but had also spread to other countries. 
In the course of their trafficking with neighbouring peoples, 
in Nubia and the Sudan, in the Mediterranean islands and 
coasts, in East Africa and the Erythrean coasts, Egyptians 

163 


| the preceding chapters we have sketched the history 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


had introduced many of their customs and practices. No 
doubt on many occasions Egyptians died abroad and were 
buried in accordance with their own customs. But long 
settlement in some of these places led to the adoption by the 
local people of the Egyptian custom of mummification ; 
and when in later times the population of these colonies 
imitated their teachers and exploited countries still further 
afield, a variety of modified forms of Egyptian embalming 
were handed on stage by stage to distant lands, until every 
continent in the whole world was practising some of the 
many varieties of Egyptian mummification in a more or 
less modified form. 

People in Nubia and the Sudan have been practising 
every stage of the art known in Egypt itself; but elsewhere 
in Africa only certain phases of mummification were adopted 
—for the most part the varieties of technique distinctive of 
the New Empire or later. Father Delattre found in Carthage 
a series of tombs belonging to the seventh and sixth cen- 
turies B.c., containing not only unmistakable Egyptian mum- 
mies but also representations of Egyptian deities.1 But 
we know that the practice spread further around north- 
west Africa until it reached the Atlantic coast, as far as 
the Canaries and Nigeria. But from Egypt the custom also 
spread up the Nile and along the Red Sea coast, across the 
Continent to the Niger and Congo and to Uganda, and 
eventually even as far as Southern Rhodesia and Madagascar. 
It spread to Asia and was adopted for a time in India and 
Ceylon, but has persisted more widely in Further India, 
in Indo-China, in the Malay Archipelago, in Australia, 
Melanesia and Polynesia and reached Peru, Central America 


1 Les grands Sarcophages anthropoides du Musée Lavigerie 4 Carthage, and 
La Nécropole punique de Douimes, quoted by Louis Reutter: L’Embaumement 
avant et aprés Jésus-Christ, Paris 1912, pp. 76 et seq. 


164 


CONCLUSION 


and Mexico, and became widely diffused in both Continents 
of America. , 

We do not propose to discuss in this book the spread 
of mummification or the unmistakable evidence it affords 
of the reality of the diffusion of early culture. Some of 
the voluminous evidence in substantiation of these state- 
ments has already been given elsewhere.1 We have referred 
to the matter here only because the survival of Egyptian 
methods of embalming in these other places for twelve or 
more centuries since they were abandoned in Egypt itself 
opens the possibility of getting information concerning 
many points in the process which we cannot now discover 
in Egypt itself. 

This applies especially to the difficult problem of identi- 
fying the materials used for embalming in Egypt. For 
instance, such a work as Joseph Lanzoni’s Tractatus de 
Balsamatione Cadaverum (Geneva 1696) gives a great deal 
of information concerning the preservatives that were used 
in Europe in the seventeenth and earlier centuries. Many 
if not most of these were survivals from much earlier times 
in the Eastern Mediterranean. 

The use of butter as packing material for the mouths of 
Egyptian mummies 1000 B.c. assumes special importance 
when we recall Roscoe’s account of a similar practice among 
the modern Baganda of East Africa, and the ritual importance 
attached to it. Then again, the insertion of mud and onions 
into the bodies of Egyptian mummies of the same period 
(XXIst Dynasty) becomes something more than a mere 
fantastic curiosity, when we discover that the Kilba of 
Northern Nigeria still adopt this strange method with the 


1 For the bibliographical references see G. Elliot Smith, The Migrations of 
Early Culture, Manchester 1915. 


165 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


definite idea of retarding decomposition.1 But what are 
much more important are the suggestions we get from 
methods of preservation used in modern times elsewhere, 
concerning which Egyptian writings are dumb. From the 
study of Egyptian mummies it is impossible to discover what 
measures were taken to desiccate the corpse. We know that 
the viscera were removed and that a variety of preservative 
agents were employed (resins and salts) in preparing the 
mummy. We know also that the peculiar technique used 
in the XXIst Dynasty necessarily involved the draining of 
moisture from the tissues of the corpse. But we also know 
that in practically every place where ancient methods of pre- 
serving the bodies of the dead have survived into modern 
times, special methods are used (in addition to the applica- 
tion of preservative agents) for drying the body. In some 
localities the skin is punctured and the body massaged to 
get rid of superfluous moisture; in others it is exposed to 
the sun; in other places, again, hot sand is applied to the 
body; but far more widespread than any of these methods 
is a process of smoking or drying the body over a fire. In 
his account on the condition of the late mummified bodies 
in the First Annual Report (1907-8) of the Archeological 
Survey of Nubia, Wood Jones called attention to the fact 
that considerable heat must have been applied to some of 
the bodies. The evidence provided by the methods still 
used in many places in Africa, Australia, Oceania, and 
America tends to confirm his inference. The use of fire 
in connexion with the ritual of embalming, not merely for 
drying the corpse, but also for burning incense, suggests 
that the practice of cremation may have arisen (possibly 


1 QO. Temple: Notes on the Tribes, Provinces, Emirates and States of the 
Northern Provinces of Nigeria, Cape Town 1919. (We owe this reference to 
Mr T. F. MclIlwraith.) 


166 


CONCLUSION 


in Sumer) for the ritual purpose of translating the dead 
man to the sky just as the offering of the incense was believed 
to bear to the sky-world the animating influence of the 
divine substance. 

Scores of details in the Egyptian methods of embalming, 
such as the treatment of the skin, nails, hair, and brain, 
the special attentions paid to the head, hands, and repro- 
ductive organs, the use of paint and amulets, of incense and 
libations, and the wrapping and coffining of the dead, become 
more intelligible when we study these procedures as they are 
practised at the present day. 

Whole chapters would be needed if we were to attempt 
to discuss the practices associated with mummification in 
Egypt which have survived in other lands—the making of 
portrait statues, the use of funerary couches, the religious 
significance of animal standards, the sacred dances and the 
varied ceremonial. But enough has been said to illustrate 
the manifold links which the ritual of embalmment had 
forged throughout the world in ancient times. 

In many countries where mummification must have 
been adopted in early times and soon abandoned, scores of 
practices genetically linked up with embalming in Egypt 
have survived. Instead of attempting to preserve the body, 
for example, in parts of China, jade, pearls, cowries or gold 
are inserted into the mouth of the corpse under the belief 
that these materials will magically preserve the body. This 
can have no other meaning than that the practice in question 
is merely a surrogate of embalming. 

We do not propose to discuss the nature of the materials 
used for embalming in Ancient Egypt. The important 
memoir published by Reutter in 1912 1 gives the most reliable 


1 L’Hmbaumement (op. cit. supra). 
167 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


information concerning the identification of the salts, resins, 
balsams, aromatic woods, and bitumens used in Egypt and 
elsewhere in Northern Africa. Other information has been 
given by W. A. Schmidt and A. Lucas.1 The meaning of 
the divergence of opinion between Schmidt and Lucas is 
explained in the discussion reported on page 148 of The 
Cairo Scientific Journal, and also in Reutter’s criticism of 
Lucas’s methods (op. cit). It can be confidently stated that 
at most periods common salt (mixed with certain natural 
impurities) was the essential preservative agent employed 
by the Egyptians for embalming. Crude natron was used 
for mixing with resins to form a paste, and it was also 
mixed with shed parts of the body (such as the epidermis). 
The woods of various aromatic trees, and especially junipers, 
were also used. The analyses made by Reutter of the 
resins, balsams and woods reveal the wide extent of the 
geographical area exploited by the Egyptians to obtain 
materials for mummification. If a series of mummies of 
all the different periods were examined with proper scientific 
thoroughness it would be possible to reconstruct the foreign 
relations of Egypt at each epoch from the resins, the woods 
and the asphalts and bitumens found upon the mummies. 

The realisation of the possibilities in the scientific 
examination of mummies is being realised, but when the 
possibility of getting the necessary material is becoming 
more and more remote. 


? W. A. Schmidt : ‘‘ Chemical and Bio-Chemical Examination of Egyptian 
Mummies, including some Observations on the Chemistry of the Embalming 
Process of the Ancient Egyptians,” The Cairo Scientific Journal, April 1908, 
p. 147. See also above, p. 72 footnote. A. Lucas: ‘A Preliminary Note on 
some Preservative Materials used by the Ancient Egyptians in connexion with 
Embalming,”’ ibid., p. 188. 


168 


APPENDICES 


169 





APPENDIX I 


THE TOMB OF TUTANKHAMEN AND THE 
ROBBERIES AT THE ROYAL TOMBS 


Carnarvon and Mr. Howard Carter in the Tomb of 

the Pharaoh Tutankhamen have naturally raised the 
greatest interest in Egyptian burial customs. The special 
interest in this tomb lies in the fact that it is intact, or 
nearly so, and in this respect is unique, for although on 
rare occasions the tombs of private individuals have been 
discovered inviolate, such a thing has never before happened 
in the case of a king’s tomb. The great quantities of jewel- 
lery, gold and other precious articles deposited in the tombs 
have throughout the ages made them the object of the 
greatest cupidity, and very, very few have escaped the 
ravages of ancient plunderers. 

The mutilated and battered mummies of the Kings 
described in previous chapters show clearly enough that the 
robbers were no respecters of persons, and it happens that 
antiquity has handed down to us a number of documents 
(papyri and ostraca) dealing with the personnel and adminis- 
tration of the Theban necropolis which throw much light 
upon tomb-robbing, and it will perhaps be instructive to glance 
rapidly through some of them in the light of modern discoveries. 


Tes wonderful discoveries made by the late Earl of 


1 See, for instance, the magnificent jewellery from a royal tomb of the 
Middle Kingdom, found by Petrie and described and illustrated in colour by 
Brunton: Lahun I—The Treasure, London 1920. Most of this jewellery is 
now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. 


171 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


It must be remembered that the eastern bank of the 
Nile at Thebes was the city of the living, in which the 
Pharaoh and his court resided and all the civil life of the 
capital was carried on. The western bank was the great 
necropolis, or city of the dead. Here the limestone cliffs 
are honeycombed with tombs, and in the plain below the 
great mortuary temples of the Pharaohs spread out in a 
long line, each succeeding King adding another in which 
his funerary cult should be celebrated and the canonical 
offerings and commemorations should be solemnised. The 
nobles and citizens combined the chapel and the tomb in 
one unit, but the Kings separated them, the temples standing 
apart from their sepulchres, which latter were excavated at 
some distance away in the wild and rocky gorge known as 
Biban-el-Moluk, or the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings. 
In this valley the tombs of nearly all the sovereigns of the 
XVIIIth, XTXth and XXth Dynasties have been found. 
Some were known and standing open in Greek times, as 
the graffiti on the walls show. Others have been hidden 
by drifting sand or by falls from the limestone cliffs above 
them, and have been rediscovered in modern times: all 
of them save one! were without occupants, the plunderers 
having stripped them in bygone ages. 

When we behold the enormous mass of valuable and 
precious objects found in the small and modest tomb of 
Tutankhamen, who was a relatively obscure King with a 
short reign, our imagination will fail us if we try to picture 
the magnificence and extent of the burial equipment which 
must have filled the enormous tombs of such Kings as 
Sety I and Ramesses II, who had long and prosperous 


* One King’s tomb, that is. Several tombs of princes or minor personages 
have been found with their original occupants still in them—e.g. those of Yuaa 
and Thuiu, and of Prince Maherpré. 


172 


THE ROYAL TOMBS 


reigns (the latter over sixty years). The Tomb of Sety I is 
excavated over 800 feet into the mountain, and consists 
of about fifteen corridors and chambers, some of them of 
enormous extent; the Tomb of Ramesses II has twenty 
chambers, and many of the others have chambers equally 
numerous and extensive. The size and extent of these 
tombs make it easy to understand that a very large popula- 
tion of workmen must have been required to excavate, 
decorate, and care for them. The burials of Kings required 
armies of masons, sculptors, painters, scribes, and artizans 
of every description, together with their overseers, fore- 
men, and administrative officials. These workmen, moreover, 
had to be housed, clothed and fed, which again implies 
builders, carpenters, butchers, bakers, weavers, and water 
carriers (these were most important, for a constant supply 
of water must have been carried up from the Nile for the 
needs of the thirsty workers in the torrid heat of the 
necropolis). In addition to all these, the finished tombs 
each had guardians and priests attached to its service, and, 
further, the necropolis had a special police force of its own. 

Now, it is concerning this great population of workers 
who lived and worked in the service of the dead that the 
documents above referred to relate. Nearly every museum 
has texts of this nature, but the greatest collection is at 
Turin, and belongs mostly to the reign of Ramesses III 
and his successors—some two centuries later than Tutankh- 
amen. From these fragmentary documents a mass of 
information can be gathered as to the wages paid to these 
workers, and innumerable details of disputes, arrests, ill- 
nesses, holidays, bonuses,! legal proceedings and the private 


1 We learn from Liverpool Ostracon, No. M.18625, that extra rations were 
- given on certain feast days. 


173 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


life of these people. We know that the Egyptians used no 
coinage until Greek times, and all wages were paid in kind ; 
each man having an allotted ration of corn, oil, vegetables, 
and clothes, which was paid from the royal treasuries 
monthly. No doubt many of the men were improvident 
and failed to make their rations last out until the next 
pay-day, but we cannot escape the conviction that the 
rations were very inadequate and that the numerous scribes 
and officials who acted as distributors were self-seeking and 
dishonest and appropriated much to themselves. The result 
was easy to see: discontentment and disorder were very 
prevalent, and a reckless and lawless spirit had free play 
among the workmen. One of them, a certain Pinebi, was 
a thorough scoundrel, and a papyrus! has come down to 
us which is an indictment of many counts wherein he is 
accused of theft, bribery, rape, drunkenness, unlawful 
conversion, tomb-robbing, and other misdeeds. There is a 
similar papyrus in the Turin Museum.2 In another case 3 
a workman complains that some of his fellows entered his 
house in his absence and stole bread, cakes and other 
articles of food; they also drank his beer and overturned 
and wasted his oil. Numerous instances of theft and pil- 
ferage are likewise recorded, and where such crimes or dis- 
putes called for legal settlement, they were generally referred 
for arbitration to the oracle of the deified King Amenophis I, 
who became the local and special god of the quarter of the 
necropolis in which the workers lived. Thus the god identi- 
fies from a number of suspects the guilty party who had 
stolen some clothes. In another case the oracle was 


1 Papyrus Salt, Brit. Mus., No. 10055. 

* Pleyte-Rossi: Papyrus de Turin, Pls. LI-LX, but fragments are 
arranged in the wrong order. 3 Brit. Mus. Ostracon, No. 5637 

4 Gardiner Ostracon, No. 4, translated by its owner in Proc. Soc. Bibl Arch 
February 1917, p. 43. 


174 


THE ROYAL TOMBS 


appealed to in order to settle the disputed ownership of a 
tomb which the plaintiff alleged to have been granted to 
his forefathers by King Haremhab.! Somewhat similar 
disputes as to the division of property were likewise dealt 
with.?. Many of these cases were doubtless settled by human 
assessors, the parties drawing up their cases in writing.® 

We have journals and day-books of the scribes and 
clerks of the works which record the days upon which the 
gangers were at work and those upon which they were idle.4 
We do not know whether this idleness was enforced or 
voluntary, but the “ off-days,’’ almost as numerous as the 
working days, and often for long periods consecutively, 
may have been due to various causes. In the first place, 
we know that some were holidays, which were spent by the 
men, ‘* eating and drinking with their wives and children.”’ ® 
Other days were reserved for the celebration of religious 
feasts. Shortage of rations again is the probable cause of 
some of the prolonged stoppages, such as the strikes des- 
cribed below, and also non-arrival of supplies during periods 
of stress, when internal rebellion or external warfare hap- 
pened to be in progress. We know that at about this period 
many strange happenings took place in Egypt, and we find 
a reference to “‘the year of the hyenas, when men 
hungered,”’ ® doubtless referring to a Lybian invasion, or 
again, ‘‘ the year in which the revolt of the high-priest of 
Amen took place.’ In addition to these records of the 


1 Berlin Papyrus, No. 10496, and Brit. Mus. Ostracon, No. 5624, translated 
by Erman: Sitzb. d. Kén. Pr. Akad., 1910. 

2 Brit. Mus. Ostracon, No. 5625 ; Cairo Ostracon, No. 25242. 

3 E.g. the bargain for an ass, Berlin Ostracon, No. P.1121, and many others. 

4 Papyrus Lieblein at Turin, partly published by Chabas and Lieblein : 
Deux Papyrus hieratiques de Turin. 

5 Cairo Ostracon, No. 25234. 

6 Brit. Mus. Papyrus, No. 10052, verso 4, 8. 

? Brit. Mus. Papyrus, No. 10053, verso 6, 22 ff. 


175 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


movements of the whole gang, we have lists of attendances 
by named individuals, the cause of absence from work, 
usually sickness, being stated.1 So frequent, indeed, is 
sickness, that we must suppose the cause lay largely in 
insufficient food and unhealthy working conditions. The 
sequel to dishonest distribution of an already inadequate 
ration finally broke out in the twenty-ninth year of Ramesses 
III as a strike amongst the necropolis workers. One of the 
most human documents which antiquity has bequeathed to 
us is the official diary of a scribe which records these labour 
disturbances.? 

The workmen, exasperated with their lot, left their 
work and crossed the boundary walls of the necropolis, in a 
temper which can be gathered from the words of the report, 
which said, “ They swore great oaths,’ and met behind 
the chapel of Tuthmosis III. On the next days they went 
further afield and gathered around the gateway of the 
temple of Ramesses II. A few days later they sent a 
deputation to the responsible officials, their spokesmen 
saying: “We have come, urged by hunger, urged by 
thirst ; we have no linen, no oil, no fish, and no vegetables. 
Send and inform Pharaoh, our good Lord, on our behalf, 
and send to the vizier, our overlord, that he may obtain 
for us the means of life.”” This appeal succeeded, for the 
text continues: ‘“* Rations for the month were handed out 
to them.” This, however, was only a palliative, for a few 
days later the workmen crossed the boundary walls again, 
and one of them in his excitement ran grave risk of punish- 
ment by uttering the oath, ‘“‘ By the Sovereign whose powers 
are mightier than death.” ® Fair words and promises had 


1 Brit. Mus. Ostracon, No. 5634. 
* Pleyte-Rossi: Papyrus de Turin, Pls. XLII ff. 


* This was an oath of great solemnity, not to be taken in vain. It occurs 
in several papyri and ostraca. 


176 


THE ROYAL TOMBS 


no effect, and the strikers called on the guilty officials by 
name. From time immemorial corruption existed amongst 
all the high officials of the State, and only a very active 
King, or a public outburst of serious magnitude, had the 
effect of temporarily checking it. We cannot but sympa- 
thise with the workers in this strike, whom we see, from a 
careful study of the whole text, to have had a very legiti- 
mate grievance. They did not strike, as modern workmen 
do, for shorter hours, or higher pay ; they merely clamoured 
for what was already due to them and not paid. The 
contest lasted a long time, for the report contains the 
happenings of day after day, the workers continually 
becoming bolder, and the guilty officials more and more 
in fear lest their victims should report them to Pharaoh. 
Another strike is recorded in the reign of Ramesses IX, 
also on account of wages being withheld. 

These underpaid and hardworked men were employed 
in making the gorgeous furniture and costly equipment of 
the Royal Tombs, and, whilst they felt the pinch of hunger, 
the Pharaoh loudly boasts of the huge endowments he makes 
to the temples to propitiate the gods in the interests of his 
own soul. The endowments made by Ramesses III to all 
the great temples of Egypt are stupendous, and are detailed 
at length in the longest and best preserved papyrus that 
antiquity has spared us.? It is scarcely to be wondered at 
that the valuables deposited in the Kings’ tombs and in 
the storehouses attached thereto were a constant source of 
temptation to which the workmen continually succumbed. 
Under the successors of Ramesses III these thefts became 
such a public scandal that, in the reign of Ramesses IX, 


1 Papyrus Lieblein at Turin. 

* The Great Harris Papyrus, Brit. Mus., No. 9999. The amount of corn paid 
over annually to the temples far exceeds the allowance for the whole of the 
necropolis workmen. 


177 Z 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


a commission was appointed by the Vizier to inspect the 
tombs and report on their condition.!. The inspectors found 
a number of tombs violated, including the Royal Tomb of 
King Sebekemsawef of the XIIIth Dynasty, which had been 
entered by tunnelling from a neighbouring tomb. This 
latter tomb has been found in modern times, and the tunnel 
made by the thieves, and all the particulars of the ancient 
report have been verified.2, A second papyrus ? contains the 
confession of one of the thieves when brought to justice, 
and he describes how he and seven companions stripped 
the gold and jewellery from the mummies of the King 
and Queen, and divided the spoil. Yet another papyrus 4 
deals with the violation of the tomb of a certain Queen Isis 
(wife of Ramesses III) by eight thieves, presumably the 
same eight, and with the damage done therein. 

To return to the Abbott papyrus, after detailing the 
names of the tombs visited and their condition, the narrative 
proceeds to report the apprehension of certain suspects on 
a charge of robbing the Tomb of Queen Isis. Their arrest 
was due to the officious mayor to the town, whose duty 
did not extend to the necropolis, but who evidently wished 
to score over his rival, and thereby prove his negligence. 
The result of the trial was to vindicate the necropolis 
officials and inculpate the mayor, for the evidence was 
proved to be false and the suspects were set at liberty. 

On the back of the Abbott papyrus are two long lists of 
prisoners, many of them high officials whose complicity had 
been bought, and a fourth papyrus ® gives in great detail 


1 Abbott Papyrus, Brit. Mus., No. 10221. 

* Newberry : Theban Necropolis, p. 14. 

* Amherst Papyrus. Newberry: Amherst Papyri, Pls. IV-VII. 

* Papyrus at Turin. Spiegelberg: Zwei Beitrage, p. 12. 

* Papyrus Mayer A. at Liverpool Museum, published by Peet: The Mayer 
Papyri A and B. 


178 


THE ROYAL TOMBS 


the trial of these persons. There were two separate trials, 
one for robbery from the tombs of two Queens of the XIXth 
Dynasty, the other for thefts from certain buildings called 
* Corridor Houses,”’ which were probably workshops or re- 
positories of some sort, in which metals and other valuable 
objects for use in the tombs were stored. Some of the 
prisoners were found not guilty, but many of the thieves 
were convicted, and all kinds of witnesses were called to 
support the case for the Crown, which must have been 
very carefully prepared. In this papyrus not less than 
180 names occur of prisoners and witnesses.! 

We have muchstill to learn concerning these prosecutions, 
which cannot be accomplished until four important papyri 
in the British Museum, at present unpublished, are made 
available to scholars.2_ Enough, however, has been said to 
show that the strongest measures were taken by the Govern- 
ment to protect the sepulchres of the dead, but how un- 
successfully the sequel will show. It must not be supposed 
that tomb-breaking was only perpetrated at the period 
we have just discussed. There is abundant evidence that 
tombs of all periods were plundered, and evidence, more- 
over, that most of the plundering was done by contempor- 
aries who knew their way about and exactly where to seek 
their object.2 Many tombs were plundered more than once. 
Thus the tomb of Tuthmosis IV, which was discovered in 
recent times, was literally knee-deep in broken pottery and 
furniture, the work of the robbers who rifled the tomb for 


1 A papyrus at Vienna relates to this same series of events (this is the Papyrus 
Ambras, published by Brugsch: Agyptische Zeitschrift, 1876, pp. 1 ff.) and 
Mayer B., at Liverpool, is a fragment dealing with a robbery from the tomb of 
Ramesses VI. 

2 The recto only of one of them (Pap. Harris A.) has been published by New- 
berry in his Amherst Papyri (Pls. VIII-XIV). 

8 See the interesting case described by Mace in the Bulletin of the Metro- 
politan Museum of New York, December 1922, pp. 4-6. 


179 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


the second time. The first robbers had broken in probably 
soon after the King’s burial, and it was in disorder in the 
reign of Haremhab, who, we learn from a hieratic inscription 
on the wall, had the burial restored and damage made 
good in the eighth year of his reign. The royal mummies, 
which were discovered in two batches, one hidden in a deep 
pit-tomb at Deir-el-Bahari, the other in the tomb of Ameno- 
phis II, are most instructive by reason of the inscriptions 
written upon them. Owing to the continual violation of 
their tombs, which the Government of the day could not 
prevent, the high priests of Amen restored the damage and 
moved the mummies of the Kings from tomb to tomb, 
endeavouring to safeguard them. Thus the bodies of 
Sety I and Ramesses II, his son, were restored and re- 
bandaged by order of the Priest-King, Hrihor, jin the sixth 
year of his reign. Ten years later he moved the mummies 
of Ramesses I and II from their own tombs into that of 
Sety I for greater security; and this proving useless, the 
three mummies from that tomb were carried into the tomb 
of Queen Anhapu. A later Priest-King, Menkheperre, had 
them inspected, and found that they had again been rifled, 
and caused the bodies to be rebandaged and repaired. The 
tomb of Queen Anhapu having proved insecure from attack, 
the mummies of Sety I and Ramesses II were transferred 
to that of Amenophis I. Here, apparently, they remained 
until the XXIInd Dynasty, when they were transferred, 
together with all the other royal mummies whose hiding- 
places were known, to the cache at Deir-el-Bahari, where 
they remained unmolested until our own times. In 1872 
the Arabs discovered the hiding-place, and sold many of 
the smaller antiquities buried with the mummies to European 
tourists. The fact that the Royal Tomb had been found by 
the natives became evident from objects belonging to the 
family of the Priest-Kings of the XXIst Dynasty which 
180 


THE ROYAL TOMBS 


made their appearance on the market, but no one suspected 
what was actually hidden in the tomb. The authorities did 
not succeed in extracting the secret of the tomb from its 
holders until 1881, when by order of the late Sir G. Maspero 
the tomb was cleared and all the mummies taken to Cairo, 
where they can now be seen.? 

Instead of a tomb containing merely some members of 
the family of the Priest-King Hrihor of the XXIst Dynasty 
a large cave was discovered literally packed with mummy 
cases, many bearing historic names. Thus came to light 
bodies of some of the most famous Pharaohs in Egypt’s 
history. They included Seknenré of the XVIIth Dynasty 
who made war on the Hyksos invaders, Aahmosis I, 
Amenophis I, Tuthmosis I, II and III, Sety I, Ramesses IT 
and III, and others, besides many of their Queens, sons, 
daughters and other relatives. Added to these there were 
several XXIst Dynasty Priest-Kings with their Queens. 
How this hiding was accomplished in secrecy is difficult to 
understand, owing to the great number of coffins which had 
to be transported from a distance and lowered down the 
deep shaft, some of them so heavy that a dozen men could 
scarcely lift them. 

The Kings found in this cache ranged from the XVIIth 
to the XXth Dynasties, but the series was incomplete and 
several Kings were absent. Maspero, therefore, formed the 
opinion that a second batch must be hidden elsewhere, as 
the first tomb was filled to its utmost capacity. Excavations 
were, therefore, vigorously carried on in the neighbourhood, 
but without success. A few years later Loret, who began 


1 The full narrative of this discovery is a veritable romance of science. 
The discovery is dealt with in extenso by Maspero : Les Momies Royales de Deir- 
el-Bahari, a bulky memoir of 276 quarto pages. A briefer account will be found 
in the Guide du Visiteur au Musée du Caire, 4th French ed.,1915, pp. 862-366. 


181 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


a search in the Valley of the Kings itself, was rewarded by 
the discovery of the tomb of Amenophis II, and in it lay 
the King in his own sarcophagus, together with a number 
of other mummies which had been moved thither from their 
own tombs for safety. The second batch included, besides 
Amenophis II himself, Amenophis III, Tuthmosis IV, 
Meneptah, Siptah, Sety II, Ramesses IV, V and VI, together 
with several queens and princesses. Some of these mummies 
were taken to Cairo, but six (including Amenophis II) were 
left in the tomb. Shortly after the discovery the natives 
broke open the iron door which had been affixed to the 
entrance and rifled the King’s body once more, and it is 
therefore much open to question if it is really wise to leave 
the Kings in their tombs as has been strongly advocated 
in the case of Tutankhamen. 

All the mummies had been sadly maltreated by the 
ancient plunderers, who smashed the bodies in order to take 
the jewellery and ornaments from them. Some seem to 
have been the victims of wanton spite. Such was the 
mummy of Ramesses VI, which was literally hacked to pieces 
(Fig. 29), and the priests who restored the mummy could 
merely make up a bundle of odd limbs and fragments in 
the outward semblance of a mummy. Many of the royal 
mummies had lost their original coffins and were put into 
any which could be obtained, some very inferior specimens 
quite unworthy of their royal occupants. 

The mummy of Tutankhamen has rested within the 
gilded shrines in his tomb unmolested, and is the sole 
Pharaoh hitherto found who has escaped the doom of 
his peers. 


* The coffins in which the royal mummies were found form a volume of the 
Cairo Museum Catalogue. Daressy : Cercueils des Cachettes royales, Cairo 1909. 
Another volume is devoted to a minute description of the mummies them- 


182 


THE ROYAL TOMBS 


In Appendix II a list of the Kings from Seknenré to 
Ramesses XI is given with reference to the mummies and 
tombs of all that are known. From this it will be observed 
that the tombs of all but four have been discovered. The 
sites of some have never been lost, and others have long 
been known ; only those rediscovered in modern times have 
been noted in the column headed ‘* Remarks.” 

There is one other ancient papyrus which gains special 
significance from the Tutankhamen discovery. There is in 
the Turin museum the architect’s plan of the Tomb of 
Ramesses IV,! with particulars as to its construction and 
dimensions written in hieratic writing. In the centre of the 
burial chamber is shown the sarcophagus, and this is sur- 
rounded by five rectangles, the meaning of which has hitherto 
not been understood. We now know from the Tomb of 
Tutankhamen that these rectangles are the shrines or 
tabernacles which were erected, one inside the other around 
the sarcophagus. 


selves. Elliot Smith: The Royal Mummies, 1912: many of these mummies 
have been described in preceding chapters. 

1 This plan was exhaustively studied by Dr. A. H. Gardiner and Mr. Howard 
Carter, in the Journal of Egyptian Archeology, vol. iv, 1917. It has recently 
been reproduced in The Times and other newspapers. 


183 


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INDEX 


Abbott Papyrus, 178 
Abd’al-Latif, 19 
Abydos, Journey to, 38 
Adhesions— 
Appendicitis, 160 
Pleural, 160 
Akhenaten, 95 
Alveolar Abscesses, 99, 158 
Ambras Papyrus, 179 
Amherst Papyri, 65, 178 
Amulets, 147 
Anthony, St., '70 
Anubis the Embalmer, 438, 48, 50, 
51, 52 
Appendicitis, 160 
Arts and Crafts, 29 
Augustine, 70 


Bandages, 141 

Bell, Mr. H. I., 64, 65 

Blackman, Dr. A. M., 31, 35, 47, 60 
Book of Breathings, 148, 152 

Book of the Dead, 39, 67, 137, 148 
Book of Gates, 189 

Brain, see s.v. Cranial Cavity 
Browne, Sir Thomas, 5 

Butter used in Mummies, 115, 165 


Caleuli, 156 

Cancer, 157 

Canopic Jars, 40, 55, 144 
Capart, Professor J., 9 
Carnarvon, Earl of, 171, 184 
Carter, Mr. Howard, 171, 184 
Cartonnage, 148 

Castration, 100 
Circumcision, 75, 80, 93, 131 
Cleft Palate, 157 
Coffin-decoration, Significance of, 138 


Coffin-texts, 45, 134 
Coffins— 
** Civil-dress,”’ 138 
Earliest, 183 
Grzco-Roman, 140 
Middle Kingdom, 185 
New Kingdom, 1386 
Old Kingdom, 134 
** Rishi,’ 186 
Saite, 140 
Cornelius Nepos, 19 
Cranial Cavity and Brain, 61, 68, 75, 
81, 82, 89, 90, 123, 124 
Crowns, Royal, 93 
Crum, Mr. W. E., 69 


Dad-amulet, 149 

Death-bed, 34 

Death-masks, 26 

Decomposition, 125 

Dental Caries, 158 

Diaphragm, 85, 125 

Diodorus Siculus, 18, 62, 146 
Dioscorides, 19 

Drugs for embalming, 24, 155, 168 


Edwin Smith Papyrus, 154, 161 
Embalmers’ Workshop— 
Discovery of, 21, 37 
Egyptian Names for, 35, 54 
Escourting to, 60 
Lustrations in, 36 
Embalming-plates, 152 
Embalming-wound, 61, 63, 66, 76, 
79, 81, 82, 88, 92, 98, 103, 105, 
108, 115, 118 
Emilius Probus, 19 
Epidermis, 88, 101, 124, 168 
Eyes, artificial, 104, 118, 114 


187 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


Firth, Mrs. Cecil, 8 
Fractures, 161 
Funeral Ceremonies, 33, 39 


Gardiner, Dr. Alan H., 34, 53, 55, 
147, 149 

Garlands, 148 

Garstang, Professor J., 74, 81 

Girdle-tie Amulet, 150 

Gout, 157 

Greenhill, Thomas, 5, 88 

Griffith, Professor F. L., 47, 54 

Guyon, 20 


Harris Papyri, 177, 179 

Head, Treatment of, 26, '75 
Heart, 66, 81, 94, 99, 120, 125, 146 
Heart-scarabs, 149 

Herodotus, 18, 57, '79, 87, 125, 126 
Hip-disease, 157 

Homer, 19 

Horus-lock, 93 


Incense and Libations, 35 


Jersey Mummy, 145 
Junker, Professor H., 76 


Kidneys, 146 


Lanzoni, Joseph, 19, 165 

Leeds Mummy, 105, 113, 143 

Leprosy, 160 

Libations, 35 

Lichen used for stuffing, 100, 103, 
122 

Lucas, Mr. A., 61, 168 

Lungs, 145 


Maspero, Sir G., 45, 78, 84, 91, 100, 
110, 122, 128, 134, 188, 142, 181 

Massage, 166 

Mastoid Disease, 160 

Mayer Papyri, 178 

Medicine ‘‘ Mummy,” 19, 20 

Medicine and Pathology, 154 

Meidim, Mummy from, 74 

Merenré, Supposed Mummy of, 77 

Middle-Kingdom Coffins, 1385 

Middle-Kingdom Mummification, 78 


Mourning, 40, 59, 63 
Mouse, Therapeutic use of, 161 
Mummies— 
Coptic, 1380 
Early— 
Beni Hasan, 74 
Desasheh, 77 
Fragility of, '78 
Gizeh, 76 
Meidim, 74 
Rarity of, 78 
Saqqara, 74 
Faked, 127 
Middle Kingdom— 
Beni Hasan, 82 
Deir-el-Bahari, 78 
Lisht, 81 
Rifeh, 82 
Saqqara, 80 
Persian Period, 122 
Priests of Amen, 119 
Ptolemaic, 123 
Roman, 127 
Royal, see s.v. Royal Mummies 
Mummification— 
Cost of, 62, 64, 65 
Distribution of, 30, 163 
Influence on Religion, 25 
Object of, 25, 111 
Origin of, 23 
Mummy-cases, 
and Coffins 
Mummy-labels, 68, 69 
Mummy-medicine, 19, 20 
Mykerinus, Supposed Mummy of, 77 


see s.v. Cartonnage 


Nails, Treatment of, 88, 122 

Naville, Professor E., 22, 78, 114, 148 
Nekrophilia, 126 

Newberry, Professor P. E., 29, 185 


Onions used in Mummies, 165 
Opening-the-Mouth Ceremony, 42 
Osiris, Identification with, 25, 33 
Osteo-sarcoma, 157 

Ostraca, 55, 178, 174, 176 


Packing, 94, 111 
Parasites, 126 
Paré, Ambroise, 20 


188 


INDEX 


Papyri— 

Abbott, 178 

Ambras, 178 

Amherst, 65, 178 

Berlin, 175 

Boulaq, 45 

Demotic, 50, 54, 56 

Ebers, 154 

Edwin Smith, 154, 161 

Faytm, 65 

Greek, 64 

Harris, 177, 179 

Leiblein, 177 

Leiden, 55 

Louvre, 45, 69, 152 

Mayer, 178 

Oxyrhynchus, 68 

Rhind, 50 

Salt, 174 

Sign-papyrus, 147 

Tanis, 147 

Turin, 173, 176, 178 
Pathology, 96, 154 
Places of Worship, Origin of, 28 
Plutarch, 19, 67 
Period of Embalming, 53 
Perry, Mr. W. J., 26 
Petrie, Sir W. M. F., 38, 68, 74, 77, 

82, 83, 136, 140 

Pettigrew, Dr. Thomas, 7, 19, 88, 

145 
Porphyry, 66 
Portrait-panels, 140 
Portrait-statues, 26, 75, 111 
Pott’s Disease, 156 
Pre-dynastic Bodies, 72 
Pyramid-texts, 43, 45, 148 


Quibell, Mr. J. E., 74, 80 


Red, Significance of, 120 
Reisner, Dr. G., 73, 76 
Removing the Footprint, 43 
Renouf, Sir P. Lepage, 148 
Resin— 

early use of, 24 

in mummification, passim 
Reutter, Dr. L., 19, 164, 167 
Rheumatoid Arthritis, 158 
Rhind Papyri, 50 


Ritual of Embalming, 45 
Royal Mummies, Discovery of, 180 
Royal Mummies— 
Aahmosis I, 88 
Amenophis I, 91 
Amenophis II, 92 
Amenophis III, 94 
Amenophis IV, 95 
Anonymous, 92, 93, 94 
Henttaui, 116 
Isiemkheb, 116 
Makeré, 114 
Masahirti, 117 
Meneptah, 99 
Nefretari, 90 
Nesikhons, 118 
Nesitanebasher, 118 
Nozme, 112 
Ramesses IT, 99 
Ramesses ITI, 104 
Ramesses IV, 105 
Ramesses V, 105 
Ramesses VI, 106 
Ray, 90 
Seknenré, 83 
Sety I, 98 
Sety IT, 100 
Siptah, 100 
Sitkamosis, 90 
Tausret, 101 
Thuiu, 97 
Tuthmosis I, 91 
Tuthmosis IT, 91 
Tuthmosis III, 92 
Tuthmosis IV, 94 
Yuaa, 97 
Royal Tombs, Robberies at, 177 
Ruffer, Sir Armand, 122, 156 


Sand, Ritual use of, 41 
Sarcophagi, 138 

Schmidt, Dr. W. A., 72, 84, 158, 168 
Shattock, Professor, 156 

Ships, 30 

Simpson, Sir Alexander, 129 
Small-pox, 106 

Spiegelberg, Professor W., 52, 56 
Splints, 161 

Statues, Origin of, 26 

Strikes in the Necropolis, 176 


189 


EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 


Substitute Heads, 26, 76 Tuberculosis, 157 

Syphilitic Disease, 157 Turin Papyri, 176 
Tutankhamen, 133, 139, 171 

Talipes, 157 


Tanis Sign Papyrus, 147 Vesical Calculus, 156 
Tartar Formation, 159 Viscera, 53, 66, 67, 75, 113, 125, 145 
Tekenu, 41, 48 
Texts on Embalming— Wax, 118, 117, 124 
Egyptian, 45 Winlock, Mr. H. E., 37 
Greek, 57 Wood imported to Egypt, 80 
Syriac, 70 Wood-Jones, Dr. F., 162, 166 
Theban Necropolis, 69, 172 
Theban Tombs, 84 Zodiac, 140 


Printed in Great Britain by 
UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED, LONDON AND WOKING 








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